Scott LeBrun There's nothing particularly distinguished about the blaxploitation actioner "Trouble Man", but it does entertain. A bad ass Robert Hooks plays a character named Mr. T - around a decade before somebody else made that moniker famous - in the story of a cool, calm, and collected problem solver. He's hired by two criminals, Chalky (Paul Winfield) and Pete (Ralph Waite, a long way from 'The Waltons'), to find out the identities of the thieves who have been holding up their gambling operations.Mr. T finds out that things aren't as they seem. We in the audience get tipped off as to where things are heading, early on. Ordinarily this would present a problem as the viewer might get tired of waiting for our hero to play catch up, but T is such a good and smart character that we don't much mind. In the meantime, director Ivan Dixon (also an actor in things like "Car Wash") serves up respectable doses of action and suspense. The screenplay concocted by executive producer John D.F. Black is fairly uncomplicated and consistently enjoyable. The dialogue is often quite amusing. As with so many films in this genre, one of the greatest joys turns out to be the music score. The man responsible for the score in this instance is the soul legend Marvin Gaye.The largely black cast is full of terrific actors. Hooks displays a lot of poise in the lead role, and one may wish that he had had more starring vehicles over the years. Paula Kelly is appealing as his loving girlfriend Cleo. William Smithers does fine as the disapproving white cop who is suspicious of T, who doesn't appear to have a steady source of income but has nice things. Winfield is excellent, as is a perfectly slimy Waite. Julius Harris lends his authoritative presence as a crime boss - unimaginatively named Big. Other familiar faces include singer / actor Bill Henderson, Stack Pierce, Lawrence Cook, Virginia Capers, Tracy Reed, Felton Perry, John Crawford, Gordon Jump, Jeannie Bell, and Harrison Page.The rousing finale and sense of humour help to make this well worth a viewing.Seven out of 10.

Comeuppance Reviews Mr. T (no, not that Mr.T - Robert Hooks, who predated the mohawked maniac by many years) is one cool cat. He's got the flyest threads, the coolest car, the hottest women, and the most no-sweat attitude to life anyone has ever seen. But he doesn't ever brag or show off, he keeps an understated cool at all times. It's not entirely clear what Mr. T does exactly, but he's licensed to carry a gun (and to kill, presumably) - but he notes he has licenses to do many other things as well. Being a jack of all trades, two men, Chalky Price (Winfield) and Pete Cockrell (Waite) hire Mr. T to protect them against the men that are invading their illegal, underground gambling circuit. When a murder occurs during one such gambling outing, both Police Chief Marx (Smithers) and crime honcho Big (Harris) want Mr. T's head, though he's innocent of the shooting. Things get a lot more complicated from there, but suffice to say, Mr. T never loses his cool. But will he get out alive? In our estimation, Trouble Man is one of the best films from the Blaxploitation period of the 70's. It's a crying shame that it was never released on VHS in America, where it then could have really developed the standing it deserves. This lack of presence in video stores may help to understand why this title isn't mentioned among the old stand-bys of the genre such as Shaft (1971) and Super Fly (1972). But it did develop a following over the years nonetheless, and Fox finally released a nice DVD in 2005. Director Ivan Dixon has an immense career in the entertainment industry, but only really dipped his toe into Blaxploitation waters, having directed both this and The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973) the following year after Trouble Man. Having been 42 years old at the time of his helming of this movie, it's reasonable to assume he wasn't entirely sold on the notion of so-called "Blaxploitation", and spent a large chunk of his career in TV, both in front of and behind the camera. But he and writer John D.F. Black imbue this film with a lot of sly cleverness and wit, rising it above many of its contemporaries - but like Mr. T himself, not in a loud or showy way.Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the movie, to a large portion of people anyway, is the excellent Marvin Gaye soundtrack and title song. Many people knew Gaye's music from the movie far more than they knew the movie itself, having been released contemporaneously with the film on Motown Records. The utter coolness of Mr. T, the impeccable writing and direction, and the Marvin Gaye music make an unbeatable combination. With Trouble Man, you can travel back to a time when every man wore a suit (with a wide tie), dudes hung out in pool halls, and if you wanted to contact someone, your only choice was rotary phone. All of this just adds, as if it were necessary, another fascinating layer to this movie.Movies in general have only gotten worse, not better, since Trouble Man. Long live Mr. T.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

Woodyanders Supremely suave Robert Hooks plays it cool and easy as Mr. T, an ultra-smooth womanizing pool shark (real-life pool hustler James Earl "Txas Blood" Brown cameos as an arrogant sucker Mr. T beats in a high stakes game), licensed private detective, and fee-lance troubleshooter for hire, one certifiably bad hombre anti-hero and all-around ruthless, cocksure righteous cat. Mr. T's hired by treacherous underworld kingpin Chaly White (the always excellent Paul Winfield) and Chalky's equally pernicious greaseball white partner Pete (an uncharacteristically slimy'n'sleazy Ralph Waite, who's extremely hateful in a rare full-fledged villain role) to foil a stick-up gang that's been ripping off the devilish duo's late night illegal craps games. Mr. T gets framed for murdering the son of one Mr. Big (ubiquitous blaxploitation mainstay Julius Harris, dominating over everybody with scene-swiping self-assurance), a notorious major league inner city player who declares open season on Mr. T's hide. Further complications develop when Mr. Big winds up involved in a ferocious all-or-nothing turf dispute with Chalky and Pete, a vicious war which puts Mr. T in the uncomfortable position of having to evade both the bullying jerk cops and an endless legion of brutish mob goons.Ivan ("The Spook Who Sat by the Door") Dixon's brisk, hard-as-steel direction gives the somewhat standard crime/revenge plot a good, swift kick in the rear, wringing plenty of tension and fiercely violent, gut-tearing action from "Shaft" co-screenwriter John D.F. Black's knotty, cynical script. Said script vividly creates a chilly, chaotic dog-eat-dog world ridden with cold-blooded double crosses and populated by greedy, untrustworthy scuzzwads who'll do anything for money or power. The convoluted, resolutely unsetimental story persuasively states that there's no such thing as either honor or loyalty among thieves. The blackly amoral, mean-spirited, evil-hearted tone will set your nerves on end. The coarse, barbed dialogue really hits the scorching spot, too ("Now get the hell out of my car -- the two of you are *beep*ing up a nice day"). Michael Hugo's slick, expansive cinematography lends the picture a glossy, glittering look while the fabulously funky Marvin Gaye score, boasting a sublimely hip'n'heavenly opening credits theme song, supplies the awesomely happening soul music vibes. (The invaluable Robert O. Ragland served as a technical assistant to the composer.) Controbuting solid secondary turns are Paula Kelly as Mr. T's sexy nightclub singer main squeeze, "WKRP in Cincinnati" TV show regular Gordan Jump as a spineless, sniveling slum lord, and "Sudden Death" 's Felton Perry as an amateur boxer informant. Harsh, tough-minded and morally reprehensible, "Trouble Man" proves to be every bit as irresistibly irrepressible and irresponsible as its titular untouchable character.

inframan Great movie. I too saw it for the first time on Fox Movie Channel. It grabbed me & held on tight. Great acting, great action, great atmosphere. Better than Shaft! If this movie had had Lee Marvin as the lead it would have been called the "greatest action movie since Point Blank" (which it kind of reminded me of). Anyway, a terrific film!