In the summer of 1972, Burt Reynolds was basking in the media sensation surrounding his nude centerfold appearance in Cosmopolitan when Fuzz (1972) hit American theaters. This black comedy centering around the cat-and-mouse games between a gaggle of put-upon Boston police detectives and an audacious and deadly blackmailer was well-timed to capitalize on its star's heat, even if the critical response did not match the public's enthusiasm at the gate.

Adapted to the screen by Evan Hunter from one of his enduringly popular "Precinct 87" novels written under the pseudonym "Ed McBain," Fuzz opens on a typically chaotic day at the Beantown station house. Det. Meyer Meyer (Jack Weston) takes the first of several phone calls threatening the assassination of the city parks commissioner if a $5000 ransom isn't met. While Lt. Byrnes (Dan Frazer) is hopeful that the calls are merely the work of a crank, he sends Detectives Bert Kling (Tom Skerritt) and Arthur Brown (James McEachin) out to make a bogus drop and to tail the bagman.

When this response is met with the parks commissioner's shocking death by sniper fire, the cops of the 87th are met with escalating demands on the lives of other local officials. Their resources are put to the test as they try to uncover the ultimate agenda of the scheme's mastermind (Yul Brynner), a stylish power broker referred to only as El Sordo, or the Deaf Man.

Hunter's cops have other balls to keep in the air, as well. Det. Steve Carella (Reynolds) nearly pays with his life as he goes undercover to flush out a pair of sociopathic teenagers who have been torching winos for kicks. The attractive Det. Eileen McHenry (Raquel Welch), recently transferred to act as bait for a rapist plaguing the precinct, has her own problems between the patronizing attitudes of her new colleagues and the persistent attentions of Kling.

Between the mordant tone, the presence of Skerritt, and the eccentric supporting performances, Fuzz often invokes Robert Altman's M*A*S*H (1970) in its dark and irreverent take on a distinctly American profession. Unfortunately, the film doesn't display Altman's ability to skewer the sacrosanct; Fuzz has to cover an awful lot of ground in 92 minutes of screen time, and the results are highly uneven.

Some nice bits of business, like the surprisingly gentle rendering of Carella's loving relationship with his deaf-mute wife (Neile Adams), could have merited more development. Still, longtime TV director Richard A. Colla obviously enjoyed working with a cast laden with so many gifted character actors such as Steve Ihnat, Charles Martin Smith, Brian Doyle-Murray, Peter Bonerz, Bert Remsen and Royce D. Applegate, and gives each of them the opportunity to shine in their scenes.

While the tagline for Fuzz proclaimed "Burt Reynolds + Raquel Welch = Dynamite," it understated how potentially explosive it was to have the performers together on the same set. Reynolds recounted in his autobiography My Life about the frostiness of their professional relationship after he made an uncouth remark to her during the filming of 100 Rifles (1969). "She had every right to never speak to me again," the actor recalled; in point of fact, Welch only signed on for Fuzz under the proviso that they wouldn't have to work together. The two only share the screen four times in the course of the movie, and never exchange any lines.

Their personal differences would ultimately be resolved years later when Welch sued the producers of Cannery Row (1982) over her dismissal from the project, and Reynolds testified on her behalf as to her professionalism. Welch ultimately obtained a multimillion-dollar verdict. In the '90s, the two had a pleasant experience when she made a guest appearance on Reynolds' sitcom Evening Shade. "After that week, I realized I could've fallen in love with her," Reynolds recalled. "I wanted to tell her what a damn shame it was that we wasted so much time."

Producer: Jack Farren, Edward S. Feldman, Charles H. Maguire, Martin Ransohoff
Director: Richard A. Colla
Screenplay: Evan Hunter
Cinematography: Jacques R. Marquette
Film Editing: Robert L. Kimble
Art Direction: Hilyard Brown
Music: Dave Grusin
Cast: Burt Reynolds (Steve Carella), Jack Weston (Detective Meyer Meyer), Tom Skerritt (Bert Kling), Raquel Welch (Eileen McHenry), James McEachin (Detective Arthur Brown), Steve Ihnat (Detective Andy Parker).
C-92m. Letterboxed.

by Jay Steinberg