1975 director: Paul Bogart; starring Dean Martin, Thalmus Rasulala, Denise Nicholas
Okay, in all fairness, I’ve got to tell you all that this is what we in the business like to refer to as NQB — Not Quite Blaxploitation. This is one of those ‘70s films that has a lot of the trappings of blaxploitation, and even takes many of its cues from the beloved genre, including characters, themes, and music score. But when push comes to shove, no matter how much I may want to call this spade a spade, Mr. Ricco just ain’t an official, 100% blaxploitation film, placing it in the company of films like Report to the Commissioner and Man Friday. But since I paid hard-earned cash to buy a copy of this sumbitch, I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t review it as if it were a balls-to-the-wall cinematic exploration of getting revenge against evil honkies.
Dean Martin stars as Joe Ricco, a hard-boiled, liberal defense lawyer who, when the movie starts off, has just successfully gotten his client Frankie Steele (Thalmus Rasulala) acquitted of murder charges. Steele is a leader of the Black Serpents, a controversial group of black militants, and no sooner is he back on the streets, than two cops are murdered in cold blood. Of course, Steele is the prime suspect. But Ricco isn’t convinced his former client is guilty of the murders, so he begins to investigate the case. The problem is that whoever filled the cops fulla lead also wants to unload some buckshot in Ricco’s ass, and it’s only a matter of time before our hero contracts a deadly case of hot lead poisoning.
Mr. Ricco is one of those films that wouldn’t exist as it does if it weren’t for the black action films of the era. The advertising campaign, which bares a resemblance to Greydon Clark’s craptacular Ni@@er Lover, makes the film out to be more blaxploitation that it really is, because the fact of the matter is that Mr. Ricco has more in common with gritty crime films like Dirty Harry than it does blaxploitation films like Trouble Man. One of the film’s biggest problems is that the black characters are all secondary, taking a backseat to Dean Martin’s somewhat miscast hero. Thalmus Rasulala (Cool Breeze) gives a solid performance as Steele, who is easily the most interesting character in the movie, in a role that was clearly inspired by Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton. But ultimately, Rasulala isn’t given much to do. He only has one scene that has any real weight, and that doesn’t come until the film is well into the second act.
Despite the fact that Mr. Ricco doesn’t officially qualify as a blaxploitation flick, it still works as a midly entertaining crime drama. While Martin wouldn’t be my first choice to play Ricco, he isn’t as terrible in the role as you would expect him to be. Mostly he just seems out of place, occasionally stumbling around as if wandered into this film after a long weekend of heavy drinking, unaware of where he is, or what he’s doing. But as the case continues, and Ricco becomes more conflicted over his role in the proceedings, Martin manages to act with some semblance of conviction.
Director Paul Bogart’s main claim to fame was as a director on television’s All in the Family, but he also directed such films as Halls of Anger, starring Calvin Lockhart. Bogart manages to maintain tension, and the solid script doesn’t chicken out in the final reel, leaving the film with a grim, cynical end, and a cool twist.