Review: A Force of One

A masked man with martial arts prowess takes down a couple of narcotics cops. Head of the narcotics squad Clu Gulager suggests they recruit the aid of karate/kickboxing expert Chuck Norris. Initially hired to train the cops (which include Jennifer O’Neill and Ron O’Neal), Chuck ends up doing an investigation of his own after the criminals make it personal for him. Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace plays Norris’ opponent in an upcoming fight.

 

You’d think that a Chuck Norris film that is really a vehicle for someone else would be a good thing for a non-fan like me. Unfortunately, this 1979 cop movie from Paul Aaron (who wrote the story for the decent Chuck Norris ninja movie “The Octagon” and directed Wings Hauser in “Deadly Force”) isn’t even good for what it’s trying to be. And that’s a shame, because there’s some ingredients here that could’ve been turned into something rather decent instead of rather ‘meh’.

 

The problem here is the way Chuck and martial arts are used in the film. Director Aaron wants to treat martial arts like a quirky novelty, when in reality we’ve already seen Bruce Lee do his thing, Chuck himself even appearing with Bruce in “The Way of the Dragon”. This film’s co-star Ron O’Neal was already using martial arts as Youngblood Priest in 1972’s money-earner “Superfly” for crying out loud. It wasn’t that much of a novelty anymore, surely. So we get scenes of the cops treating karate like it’s a goof they’ve barely even heard of. Meanwhile, Chuck spends most of the film competing in martial arts exhibition matches, doing kickboxing for fuck knows what reason. He’s a karate instructor but he’s doing kickboxing? It’s not nonsensical, just odd. The film treats martial arts – and Chuck – like it’s all “Hong Kong Phooey” and a bit of a joke. Most importantly and head-scratching, we never – not even once in the whole film! – see the cops he is supposedly training actually put any of his teachings to good use. Y’know, the point of having Norris in the frigging movie! In fact, we don’t really see him even teaching the cops any martial arts for the most part. What. The. Actual. Fuck. So even though this is actually a Jennifer O’Neill film about Jennifer O’Neill and her fellow cops taking down the bad guys, most of the action – and almost all of the martial arts –  is supplied by Chuck Norris (he even busts out a neck-breaker at the climax!). The film either needed more Norris or no Norris at all. He just doesn’t come off as organic, almost nothing comes together here cohesively. It’s like Chuck Norris is used as O’Neill’s love interest who just happens to be good at kicking the crap out of people once he gets off the damn sidelines. Then again, once the plot actually kicks in about drug pushers with martial arts expertise around the 50 minute mark or so, it’s actually Norris not the cops doing the investigating. Why? I guess because the cops are supposedly busy learning how to master this “Hong Kong Phooey” shit…that we never see them learn, let alone execute. And that’s the thing. This film should’ve had Chuck – or whoever, really – using martial arts for action/plot momentum purposes. Scripted by “Shaft” author Ernest Tidyman (who also scripted “The French Connection” and “High Plains Drifter”), it should’ve been a film full of drug dealers/pushers getting the crap kicked out of them, while the plot continues to unravel itself. Once Chuck does start doing that, some of it is fun, but it’s too late. It needed a lot more action throughout, and not just of the exhibition match bullshit kind. The Chuck Norris Kicks Druggies in the Face kind. Absurd final match features the ref getting intentionally hit about four damn times. Even pro-wrestling has more adherence to the rules and consequences than this shit. Meanwhile, even the film’s two ‘surprise’ bad guys aren’t surprising, one in particular you’ll figure out very quickly. So the film doesn’t end up working, and don’t even get me started on the heavy-handed anti-drug message. At one point Chuck hits the small boxing bag so hard that you’d swear he was training for a fight to defeat cocaine itself.

 

The cast looks pretty good on paper, though the first police briefing seems more like an acting read-through featuring some actors in rusty form – Even the commanding “Superfly” star Ron O’Neal is stilted. He also looks like he’s still pissed off that acting in “Superfly” didn’t give him sustained stardom. Seriously, the man does not want to be in this film and clearly doesn’t give a fuck that you think he’s just picking up a quick pay day for it. Veteran character actor Clu Gulager is alright but seemingly not having much fun in this. Jennifer O’Neill is solid enough in what is essentially the lead role. Chuck’s actually not awful for a change, but O’Neill still has a pretty tough assignment acting alongside the blonde redwood for several scenes. In fact, fellow fighter (and former John Belushi bodyguard) Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace proves a better actor than Chuck. Poor Eric Laneuville is still in the karate dojo five years after “Black Belt Jones” and hasn’t exactly improved as an actor, either. He moved to TV directing after a while, including five episodes of the maddening but occasionally brilliant “Lost”.

 

Post-Bruce Lee, Pre-Cannon era Chuck Norris film is actually more of a police procedural vehicle for Jennifer O’Neill. She’s pretty good and the supporting cast is full of interesting names and faces. However, by using Chuck and martial arts as a goofball novelty, the film ends up awfully clunky, hopelessly outdated, and uninteresting for the most part. Hollywood hadn’t quite figured out what to do with Chuck yet. Awkward best sums this film up, and I doubt it played much better in the 70s/80s, either. Cool poster, though.

 

Rating: C