This film is amusing for the costumes alone, so colorful and eccentric that the outrageous quotient is off the charts. In their second of three films together, Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby are equal to Newman and Redford, and on screen chemistry and are joined by a great supporting cast, including John Amos, Calvin Lockhart, Denise Nicholas, Lee Chamberlain, Ossie Davis, and J. J. himself, Jimmie Walker.
The character's names are just as colorful as their outfits with monikers like Kansas City Mack, Bootney Farnsworth, Bubbletop Woodson, and even the name of a future rapper Biggie Smalls. As they did in their other films Poitier and Cosby are con artists who bite on more than they can handle, ultimately being muscled in on by the mob led by John Amos.
This film takes a while to get going in the comedy, although there is a very funny scene in the beginning with Cosby working in a construction site being distracted by Jayne Kennedy and humorously crashing. In this one, Cosby steals show, singing terribly off key in efforts to get money for a phony charity and hiding under the bed where a couple are about to make love and trying to cover when he is caught. Walker doesn't really do much, but some wacky special effects showing him training for boxing are very funny. A typical 70's popcorn film that is actually better in the second half so it takes a while to get into it.
The character's names are just as colorful as their outfits with monikers like Kansas City Mack, Bootney Farnsworth, Bubbletop Woodson, and even the name of a future rapper Biggie Smalls. As they did in their other films Poitier and Cosby are con artists who bite on more than they can handle, ultimately being muscled in on by the mob led by John Amos.
This film takes a while to get going in the comedy, although there is a very funny scene in the beginning with Cosby working in a construction site being distracted by Jayne Kennedy and humorously crashing. In this one, Cosby steals show, singing terribly off key in efforts to get money for a phony charity and hiding under the bed where a couple are about to make love and trying to cover when he is caught. Walker doesn't really do much, but some wacky special effects showing him training for boxing are very funny. A typical 70's popcorn film that is actually better in the second half so it takes a while to get into it.