Runtime: 103 minutes
Directed by: Richard Fleischer
Starring: George C. Scott, Stacy Keach, and many famous faces familiar to me
From: Columbia
I'd love to drink w/ George C. Scott at a gentleman's club! In my last review (for The Seven-Ups) I noted my affinity for 70's cop dramas. It sparked the idea for me to see another effort from the early 70's which I somehow hadn't experienced before. Thus, via Tubi I finally checked it out and like with The Seven-Ups, it was very good. Centurions, though, was definitely a 70's picture, meaning “downbeat”. I won't elaborate on why this is the case.
Stacy Keach plays a new graduate of the police academy in Los Angeles. He is partnered with veteran Scott. Originally, he joins the boys in blue as he's in law school and needs to pay the bills as he has both a wife & daughter. He then really starts to like the crazy job and all the excitement... even if you're an ACAB sort, you likely know that this line of work is quite difficult on families. Well, Centurions-based on a Joseph Wambaugh book-does not sugar-coat how rough it can be for the officers themselves. Even if having to use your gun is likely only on rare occasions, many in the public do hate you and/or you likely have to encounter someone in their worst moment, right after someone bad happened to them. That is why Keach in one scene compares police officers to the ancient Roman Centurions. The movie is on the bleak side although at least there are also touching moments so the movie was never a slog for me.
What a cast it has: Keach, Scott, Scott Wilson (for all you Walking Dead fans), Erik Estrada, Ed Lauter, Rosalind Cash, Clifton James, James B. Sikking, Isabel Sanford, William Atherton, Roger E. Mosley, Dolph Sweet and even a familiar 80's face at the very end for about 30 seconds. The cast as a whole is swell although of course it's the two leads who stood out the most with great performances. Mix in an awesome Quincy Jones score and this is a downbeat effort which was still endlessly fascinating experiencing the highs and all the lows of several characters... the camaraderie, triumphs and tragedies. One of the many reasons why I dig 70's cinema in general is that it can be unafraid to present life realistically even if it means that there are many heartaches and sour moments along the way. Thankfully the movie is not too difficult to find online although Tubi is the one legal way to stream it.
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