Dirty Tricks (1980) User Reviews

Paying To See This 'Was' A Dirty Trick

[happipuppi13 · 1/10 · 4 February 2016]

Well! Apparently I am (at the moment) the only person who remembers this humiliating effort from Elliot Gould, Kate Jackson & Rich Little.

Let me say,I saw a great many films at the movies in 1981 and given my lack of knowledge about "good comedy" and "great acting",I ended up seeing a number of really bad films. Even with the "thumbs down" of Roger Ebert & Gene Siskel, I still went.

This became the biggest case of bad judgment I ever made! I've only seen it once on late night TV since seeing it at the movies and thankfully, that was over 10 years ago. (2006)

The plot is this, Elliot Gould is a College teacher "Professor Chandler" of Governmentand / or History and talks to his class about "revisionism". Changing known history to suit one's own ideas. Suddenly, a letter condemning George Washington as a traitor shows up out of the blue!

Also,"suddenly" Kate Jackson, playing reporter Karen Polly , finds out about Elliot Gould's discovery and wants the scoop for her news show. (I don't know who could have told her... the student who presented him with the letter was killed!)

Gould's friend, Robert Brenn who seems to be another teacher (but I'd hate to be "his" student) , is played by Rich Little. He simply seems to be in the way here and, adds nothing to this mess.

Gould & Jackson are also trying to track down an expert to verify that the letter is real. But that proves not to be easy , in fact nothing goes easily.

Then along come the bad guys! Now, WHO likely all saw Karen's news report about the letter and Professor Chandler. Gould and Jackson (Chandler & Karen) are pursued by 2 men (dressed like Freddie Mercury circa 1981) looking to harm or kill them for the letter in question! Also the Mob is in on it and more.

At one point, our leading man & lady, are chased through the gym of the school and for no reason, except someone thought it would be funny, Gould grabs the basketball out of a players hand, dribbles down the court and makes a shot.

One of the baddies (a mob guy) shoots a hole in the ball! The shoddy editing of that scene makes the ball appear re-inflated after going through the hoop almost flat! (I could see one of the young teen extras laughing in the scene).

In another scene Karen is ranting on about how this will help her career and other related stuff and he suddenly punches her in the jaw to shut her up.

Oh, nice Elliot, nice...not.. : (

In the end , when they're cornered by the bad guys and (and no,I don't think it matters that I'm telling you).... Elliot Gould solves the problem by eating the letter! (You could have done that over an hour ago Elliot!) .

Well , enough said here but if you see this on video or TV anywhere.....RUN for your sanity!

Dirty Tricks On A Crazy College Campus

[Zoophyte-2 · 1/10 · 5 July 2022]

"Dirty Tricks". A movie, with somehow a budget of $5 million in Canadian dollars.... that confirmed to me that Elliott Gould playing a professor in a collegiate setting was first of all, ridiculous.

He looked out of place in such a role. The campus in this film is supposed to be Harvard, but feels more like an overrated community college with teachers hired off the street. I wonder if Harvard sued them?

As a history teacher, Gould invalidates his credibility as soon as he opens his mouth about, "American Revolution: "1776! They were people who cared! They gave a bleep!" Safe to say, Harvard likely wouldn;t have kept him 1/2 a day.

Then there's Rich Little, who plays a colleague in the history department. Little's character has been plugging his new book, "Our Founding Fathers : A Sexual Expose'," on every obliging talk show. (..but not getting fired for it?)

Both men seem to have a habit of bedding down with younger female students as well, so they can give them an A grade....talk about a movie being a product of a bygone era! Little was funnier back then doing impersonations.

Now the plot..I think it's a plot, certainly not a believable story.

Gould is threatened with abduction & assassination after it becomes known that he was the last person to speak to a murdered student, a young man trying to peddle a found document concerning George Washington possibly being a traitor to America. (Riiight , and Superman really worked for Lex Luthor.)

Nevertheless, Gould deals with this unproven claim is such a cavalier way -- by destroying it at the end of the movie ..as another stated here, by eating it!

A pair of moustahced, short haired thugs who look and dress alike, a male-female gangster duo, the mob and the FBI all pursue not only Professor Chandler but now a news reporter played by "Charlie's Angels" star Kate Jackson. Odd that her character resides in a posh apartment located over a porn parlor in Boston's seedier side.

The pursuit takes up most of this movie but without it, it would be an ever dumber movie than it already is. Gould annnoyed at reporter Polly coming to his house with her TV crew. If I recall right he makes a crude joke about Eskimo's and someone getting a kick in the 'icehole'.

Inferior comedy in every respect, "Dirty Tricks" was in and out of heaters in 1981 so fast, I couldn;t even find their box office take using a Google search. (Don't beleiee me? Try it.)

To put it plainly, "Dirty Tricks" was and still is a shambles, a film written in Junior High level humor, sexist towards women and really something that practically derailed Elliot Gould's movie career, after a deade on top.

Rich Little had his impersonations to fall back on and Kate Jackson was saved by the TV series, "Scarecrow and Mrs. King." Gould, while he di keep working in films , movies for TV and occaisonal good guest roles on many TV series....never regained, what I gues I'll call, the A list level of fame again.

Astoundingly and in conclusion, the film was actually based on a novel, "The Glendower Legacy" by Thomas Gifford. Which had been first published in 1978. I hope Mr. Giford sued. - One star is being kind and if anyone ever rates this higher....they likely were a student of one of these 2 allegeed "professors".

Unfunny chase comedy

[lor_ · 2 January 2023]

My review was written in June 1981 after a Manhattan UES screening: Despite the efforts of a willing and able cast, "Dirty Tricks" flounders as a would-be chase comedy, done in by lame writing and misjudged direction. Word of mouth is likely to be poor.

A bearded Elliott Gould toplines as Colin Chandler, a Harvard College history prof, who is harassed and chased by three pairs of adversaries out to get a secret history-revamping letter written by George Washington that was discovered by a murdered student of his. Television newswoman Polly Bishop (Kate Jackson) is pestering Chandler about the murfer story and becomes linked with him in both chase and romantic modes.

With wit and verbal humor lacking, the stars eke out pic's few laughs with physical bits and gags. Director Alvin Rakoff makes a fatal error in staging the story's frequent violence with convincing realism, a ploy which does not match the cartoonish villains (twin karate nuts, raffishly attired he-she gangster duo, bumbling FBI snoops). When the baddies and even Gould start beating up Jackson near the end of the film, it's not only unfunny but actually repellant.

Distracting from the main plot is pic's Canadian origin, jarring at times with the Boston-Cambridge locale (token location footage) and the U. S. patriotic story premise. Gould is an ingratiating lead, but script oddly has him doing self-homages with scenes echoing "Getting Straight", "Mash" and "Move" among his decade-ago pics.

Jackson makes a feisty heroine and Rich Little has a couple of good innings as Gould's best friend, but Arthur Hill's dean/villain is underwritten. Tech credits are okay.