Review by Neil Davey
Stars Roy Scheider, Ken Kercheval, Victor Arnold, Larry Haines
Written by Albert Ruben & Alexander Jacobs, from a story by Sonny Grosso
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £15.99 | Runtime 103 minutes | Directed by Philip D’Antoni
Remember the days when men were men, women were women and cops were hard-nosed bastards who didn’t play by the rules? Of course you do – because that’s pretty much the blueprint for every bleeding cop programme ever made.
The Seven-Ups is interesting as it’s a sort of spin off to The French Connection, with Roy Scheider reprising his role as Buddy, a New York detective who’s part of the titular band of investigators. Their methods are unconventnional but the results are often good, with the crims they catch going away for seven years or more. Their current investigation though goes badly wrong when they discover that they aren’t the only people hunting mobsters: someone’s out there kidnapping the bad guys too. When this leads to the death of Buddy’s partner, the investigation takes on a whole new direction.
By the numbers? Yes. Badly dated? Oh yes. Averagely directed? Yes indeed – D’Antoni produced The French Connection and this is his only film in the director’s chair probably for good reason. Does any of the above matter? Not really. Gritty, hard-boiled, a genuine cinematic curiosity and it’s ALWAYS a pleasure to see Scheider, one of Hollywood’s most underrated (and under-stated) actors. No classic but certainly worth a look – and the car chase is a little cracker.
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