* Original Title: Il Trucido e lo sbirro
* Year: 1976
* Director: Umberto Lenzi
* Writer: Umberto Lenzi, Dardano Sacchetti
* IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075352/
* Genre: Euro-crime
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imdb synopsis:
Inspector Antonio Sarti breaks dirty criminal Sergio Marazzi (‘Monnezza’ or Garbage Can) out of prison to assist in finding a kidnapped girl because of Garbage Can’s ability and knowledge of the Rome underworld.
Lenzi brings as a farily lighthearted crime flick here. We have the typical cops punching the shit out of criminals, profanity, violence against women, sure… but we are also treated to an animated Tomas Milian as Garbage Can who sports a ridiculous wig and eyeliner, hangs out with sheep, even steals a man’s voice box! Can’t say I’ve ever seen that one before. Even with the sub-par dub job on the print I watched, Milian’s personality shines through. He is a treat to watch for sure. He’s funny and animated… the character even picks his nose, picks his teeth… lots of personality. Another small but strong performance is Henry Silva playing a nasty criminal Brescianelli who as orchestrated the kidnapping, demanding 800 million lire as ransom. He and his band have no qualms about violence against children even. (His hair and face are extra puffy here as well.)
Sarti uses Monnezza and three other criminals in order to track down Brescianelli and find the sick girl who desperately needs medication for a kidney condition. It maintains a pretty strong narrative throughout for me, with the exception being the second act of the film when the group gets close to Brescianelli via men who work for him (an accountant and a lawyer). I found myself a little confused at this point in the film who was who, and how they figured out exactly how these men were associated. The group ultimately just ends up following a lead established early on. We are given a chance to see Milian in a monk costume here, so I suppose all is forgiven.
Another weak point I found was the criminals continuing to follow Inspector Sarti around and helping him. You can see some heart in Garbage Can, but with the other three, not so much. They are almost busted by the police in an attempted train heist early on, and Sarti informs them that Brescianelli ratted them out while they hide out in the strange boat also used in ‘Almost Human’ (another Lenzi-Milian team up from around the same time). For awhile they assist in finding him because they want revenge, but when they ultimately find out that Sarti and Garbage Can are the ones that in fact messed up the train heist, there is some tension, but they still help and even risk their lives.
Lenzi is solid as always in this genre. There are lots of nice moments besides the Garbage Can character that maintain the lightheartedness. Right from the beginning, we are given a WTF moment as the opening credits appear to be a western, not a crime flick. All is explained soon enough, but I really thought I had started watching the wrong film. There are some criminals that rob places by punching people in the face with boxes of Kleenex….. with a brick inside! The voice box theft, Milian hiding amongst sheep, the ending even all play nicely against some pretty nasty things going on at times.
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It dragged a little for me in the second act as I said, and the English dub was pretty bad, but overall it was quite enjoyable. There are two more films I know of with the Monnezza/Garbage Can character, so I’m excited to se where he ends up.
Definite recommendation from me.
6.5 out of 10
