Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Seven-Ups

The Seven-Ups. 1973 20th Century Fox.
Starring: Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Larry Haines, Richard Lynch, Victor Arnold, Jerry Leon, Ken Kercheval
Director: Philip D'Antoni
Buy The Seven-Ups at Amazon.

The Seven-Ups is the only directoral effort for Philip D'Antoni, who is noted for producing Bullitt and The French Connection. Not so coincidentally, all three films have famous car chase sequences.

Roy Scheider plays Buddy Manucci, an NYPD investigator who runs a task force of renegade cops known as the "Seven-Ups", because most of the convictions done by the team usually sees a prison sentence from seven years and up for the offender. Manucci is also catching some flak from his superiors thanks to the Seven-Ups' tactics on the streets. He also relies on a street informant named Vito Lucia (Lo Bianco).

Lucia double crosses Manucci by using some information concerning a secret list of Mob loan sharks. The criminals are quickly kidnapped and held for ransom. The scheme leads to the death of one of the Seven-Ups (Kercheval). Manucci and his surviving men go to war with New York City's underworld, doing whatever they can to track down and capture Lucia.

Naturally, the car chase scene through Manhattan is the best part of the movie. Recommended movie.

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