Short Attention Span Review - The Tough Ones (1976)

Short Attention Span Review - The Tough Ones (1976)

Umberto Lenzi isn't big on subtlety.  No, he made loud pictures, obnoxious pictures even, and he's the kind of director who wouldn't settle for having a good time if having a sleazy good time was an option.  With The Tough Ones, he takes the whole "rogue cop" theme and runs wild with it.  Maurizio Merli stars as Inspector Leonardo Tanzi, a dapper dude who beats the shit out of so many crooks that I lost count halfway through the picture.  And he has a killer slap that he likes to deploy--he will slap the taste out of a punk's mouth at the drop of a hat.  And this movie needs him.  Seriously, dude's beat is so popping that he waltzes right into a mugging, purse-snatching, rape, bank robbery, or perhaps even a good old-fashioned murder spree courtesy of a crazed hunchback every time he rounds a corner.  And he beats the fuck out of the bad guys.  And his captain yells at him afterward, but displays a wry smile that lets us know he digs Tanzi's "take no prisoners" style whenever this suave hothead is dispatched to slap around another crook.  Merli plays this about as well as it could be played, and Tomas Milian is a deft combination of fiery and petulant in his role as Vincenzo Moretto, the previously mentioned "crazed hunchback."  Milian is fully invested in a depraved role as a madman who gets off on gunning down innocent bystanders and cracking bad jokes about his dirty deeds.  Lenzi applies his typical flair to the picture, which is fast-paced, colorful, and equal parts repugnant and exciting.  He gives us setups that are totally shameless examples of exploitation at its grimiest, then quickly veers to smashing payoffs wherein Tanzi leaps into action and smacks the bad guys around.  The cinematography, editing, and the effects are better than what we often see in such fare, and the soundtrack is typical for these flicks--meaning that it is exceptional.  Kudos to Grindhouse Releasing for including the score from Franco Micalizzi on CD in their double-disc Blu-Ray edition of The Tough Ones.  Beautiful packaging as well.  Bottom line: anyone looking to dig up some so-called Eurotrash could do a hell of a lot worse.  In fact, I'm going to highly recommend this flick, because The Tough Ones is an absolute riot for those of us who dig sordid cinema.

Final Grade: B+

Maurizio Merli may look dapper, but he's tough as nails.  If he doesn't beat up two dozen people or more in this movie, I'm not the illest mofo on the block.