Schwartz: The Brave Detective (1973) User Reviews

I throw this "Gus" under the bus!

[Wizard-8 · 2/10 · 14 July 2019]

In his memoirs, Troma Films' president Lloud Kaufman said that this movie (known as "Big Gus, What's The Fuss?" in some versions) was, "The biggest failure, monetarily and artistically, of my entire life." Reading his lamentations about the movie made me, of course, want to see it, but for years it was seemingly impossible to see. But thanks to the Internet, the movie is now available on YouTube for anyone to see if they want to... though after seeing it, I don't think anyone would be able to find anything to enjoy about the movie. The movie is certainly severely damaged by its slipshod production values and being full of extremely simple-minded gags that wouldn't even amuse a three year old child. But what really makes the movie a failure is the extremely low energy of the entire enterprise. It quickly becomes clear that nobody in the movie seems to be very enthusiastic about being here, from the uninspired performances of the actors to the lazy and flat direction from the director. The whole package ends up being an utter bore that also insults your intelligence. Not as bad as the Troma movie "Curse of the Cannibal Confederates", but it's very close.

An enjoyable lightweight comedy

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 5 January 2010]

Bumbling detective Schwartz and his equally inept partner Simcha are hired by a man to find out if the man's wife is cheating on him with the family doctor. The blundering duo run afoul of mobsters and experience other mishaps during their investigation. Director/co-writer Ami Artiz relates the amusingly goofy story at a snappy pace and maintains an extremely amiable tone throughout. The humor is pretty silly and inoffensive, with a dinner party gone awry rating as the definite gut-busting comic highlight. The main characters are quite funny and engaging. Moreover, there's a sweet and good-natured sensibility evident throughout that's impossible to either dislike or resist. The conclusion is both clever and unexpected. Beni Nagari's lively and funky 70's blaxploitation style score hits the right-on groovy spot. Nice catchy theme song, too. A pleasant diversion.