The Seven-Ups

Who here remembers that show Dinner for Five?  You know, that talk show hosted by Jon Favreau (back before he became some fuckin’ summer blockbuster director and when he was Mr. Independent Film) where he would have dinner with four people in the entertainment industry (mostly) and they would be candid and say that they hate everyone in show business except for the people they were dining with.  Well there was this one episode with Dennis Farina (Out of Sight, Little Big League) where he mentioned that the two cop movies that he thought were the most authentic were The Seven-Ups and some other one I can’t remember.   This man is a former member of the force and I figured he must know what he’s talking about and have been meaning to check it out ever since. 

To get to the point it has the same look and feel as other 70’s cop dramas.  Farina says that this movie captured the humor of being a cop which is what most pictures on the subject lack.  But there wasn’t a helluva lot of humor in this one.  I don’t quite get what Farina was talking about but maybe you just need to be a cop to get it and this picture really is more accurate than most others.  I guess I’ll never really know that.

Stepping back from Farina’s comment and looking at it from my ol’ regular perspective I thought the film was pretty good but nothing spectacular.  The plot is confusing for a long while and things take time to develop.  Once I finally figured out what was happening I got invested a little more but by then all I could think about was the car chase.

And this is what makes the movie.  It’s long and thrilling as shit.  Roy Scheider (Jaws, All That Jazz) is after the bad guys and they go through a ton of New York City constantly dodging cars and people.  There’s even one part where the villains turn down a street and it’s filled with a mess of children playing and the bad guys have this terrified look on their faces like even they can’t believe this shit is in the film.  Scheider on the other hand keeps a cooler head and wears a pissed off expression like he’s being inconvenienced.  It’s great the way it ends too with Scheider crashing into the back of a fucking truck.  It looks so terrifying because the car is going so fast when it happens.  When he climbs out slowly he’s speechless and it’s his turn to have a completely stunned expression like he can’t believe he went on that incredible chase and he didn’t die just then.

Philip D’Antoni has produced three of the greatest car chases ever filmed: Bullitt, The French Connection and this.  Now that I know that they’re all related if I were to rank them I would say that Bullitt and The Seven-Ups are tied for first.  Alright I know that’s a copout.  Both are very similar but if I had to choose I would say The Seven-Ups one is a little better.  The Bullitt chase feels faster (as it should since it was filmed at speed (meaning they actually went 75-110 mph)) and it’s impressive that Steve McQueen did a bunch of the stunt driving himself.  But The Seven-Ups one feels more dangerous and I think the somewhat panicked expressions that Scheider and co. exhibit help to promote that.  Plus the way it ends has surprisingly more impact than the explosion seen in Bullitt.  The French Connection one gets second/third.  It’s cool ‘n all but it’s a car chasing a train so it doesn’t really have the same feel as the other two.  It comes off a little disjointed because Gene Hackman is kinda racing by himself.  I love that the car gets all smashed up but the other two are better chases not only in execution but also in spirit (one car chases another car) in my opinion.   

You know car chases seem to be a lost art.  I mean there are the Fast and Furious’ that do a descent to good job (especially Fast Five) and Drive put out a great albeit short chase, but for the most part it’s not something you see in pictures anymore.  And I’m talking about a gritty fucking pursuit not goddamn transformers doing some fancy fucking CGI shit while they ride.  Actually, come to think of it the car chase in Universal Soldier: Regeneration was amazing.  So maybe there’s hope that this specialized type of action will return with a vengeance.

Getting back to the film, D’Antoni also directed this (his only effort) and does a damn fine job.  Things could’ve been clearer from the get go but overall it’s a nice piece of work.  The high energy soundtrack that’s more reminiscent of a horror movie is especially good.

The reason to see this is the car chase.  Everything else is just alright.  Although I dig the title.  It means that the scumbags this elite team busts do a minimum of seven years in the joint.  So in other words they only go after the big fish that are doing some serious crime. 

If gritty 70’s New York cop dramas and car chases ain’t your thang then there’s no harm in skipping it.  But you should totally YouTube that chase scene I promise you’ll like it.