Mother, Jugs & Speed
The offbeat '70s comedy co-starring Bill Cosby and Harvey Keitel.
Member Reviews
Empty Jugs, no Speed - Shehryar
In retrospect it is a wonder that this movie is still in circulation, and that it features actors - Keitel, Welch, Hagman, Crosby - who have all made far better films.
To call this a 'caper' would do a disservice to the genre, for it contains nothing more than a group of low-life characters running rival private ambulance services in downtown LA.....actually patient-chasers who outstrip ambulance-chasers in sleaziness stakes.
Bill Crosby and Raquel Welch are joined by Harvey Keitel at the ambulance service which is making renewed efforts to stretcher more hurt people to the hospital and make more money than its rival "Unity" services. Larry Hagman plays an even bigger loser than the others, with an unfortunate array of sexist humor, dumbness and in the end, a self-destructive self-pity. Keitel threatens to breathe some life and slick humour in this otherwise comatose film, but sleep-walks through his part and settles in to join the rest of the disappointing cast.
There are some good lines from Crosby and a glimpse of his stand-up routines that earned him more fame. However he cannot hold this film up, which rests, improbably, on Raquel Welch's chest (the eponymous "Jugs" that are, unfortunately, never revealed) and their sleazebag employer Fishbine who stands out mainly for his utter lack of redeeming features, but also, inadvertently for is utter lack of acting talent.
Eminently forgettable.The Horrible Parent of "Police Academy" Movies - Nik-
This movie is schlocky garbage. It's an early precursor to all those screwball "Police Academy" movies, and other films along those lines. It has romance, humour, drama, comedy, and not even a shred of significance. It is utterly forgettable, and completely soulless.
How did Harvey Keitel ever get another acting gig after walking through this film like he was recovering from a head wound? There are mannequins that could have acted better. (And I actually *like* Keitel.)
Bill Cosby is surprisingly human, and it's nice to see him doing more "adult" material. I rented this movie because I heard someone say that, if you want to see Cosby act, check out this picture. It's true, he does try to act.
Raquel Welch is a pretty woman who pretends to have a few feminist moments. They don't really work out very well. She doesn't want the men to call her "Jugs", but they do anyway, and that ends up being okay because, well, that's how she got the part in the picture in the first place.
All in all, this is a bizarre little waste of your time. Occasional funny gags, odd lines, and darker jokes save the film from being utter crap.
Member Reviews
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Empty Jugs, no Speed - Shehryar
In retrospect it is a wonder that this movie is still in circulation, and that it features actors - Keitel, Welch, Hagman, Crosby - who have all made far better films.
To call this a 'caper' would do a disservice to the genre, for it contains nothing ...The Horrible Parent of "Police Academy" Movies - Nik-
This movie is schlocky garbage. It's an early precursor to all those screwball "Police Academy" movies, and other films along those lines. It has romance, humour, drama, comedy, and not even a shred of significance. It is utterly forgettable, and completely ...