"Mitchell"! (1975)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Memorable, crazy movie

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

"Mystery Science Theater 3000" was all about making fun of bad movies. And, since they made a bunch of installments of the show, they had to find a lot of terrible films to tear to pieces. Sometimes, however, they took poor to mediocre films and gave them the full treatment--and folks just assumed that the films were trash. And, sadly, I think a lot of people who saw these films chopped up and made fun of then voted on IMDb. This would account for films like "The Girl in Gold Boots" (a poor film, but actually one of the better ones by Ted Mikels) and "Mitchell" making IMDb's infamous Bottom 100 list. "Mitchell" is clearly NOT a terrible film and is decent entertainment. And, as a guy who has seen more bad films that just about anyone, I could probably name 1000 movies worse than this one without even trying.Joe Don Baker plays a cop who likes to play by his own rules. He's honest but tough and often plays the rogue cop--a very, very common 1970s cop film theme. When he investigates the killing of a burglar, the crime scene doesn't look right and Mitchell (Baker) thinks the homeowner killed the thief in cold blood. This seemingly simple case eventually leads to a heroin smuggling ring and ultimately leads to a showdown with the man in charge.I would never call "Mitchell" a good film. It's a brainless time-passer with lots of action and a few good scenes. Brainless because Mitchell has never heard of the Bill of Rights and because a guy is shot in the head at very, very close range and he barely bleeds--when his head should have exploded since it was an AR-15!!

Maybe these flicks are wearing me down. I watched the IMDb rated 3.4 film "Gone With The West" yesterday and I didn't think it was all that bad. I follow it up today with "Mitchell", and even though practically everyone with a review here bashes it for it's insensibility, I actually got a kick out of it. Thats' not to say I didn't use the fast forward button a few times, but I'll do that anyway through most films with senseless chase scenes and slow spots that don't make a difference.Here's the thing - Joe Don Baker is like the Energizer bunny, he just keeps on ticking. Would you rather have a dull, boring cop without charisma, or a dull, boring cop without charisma but wearing all those groovy plaid sport coats? I can't remember the last time I saw one of those, but I might have had one back in the day.Anyway, there's some kind of heroin deal going on, and Mitchell's assigned to the case, more or less to keep him out of the trouble he'd get into by tailing a well connected socialite gangster (John Saxon). But he tails Saxon anyway, along with drug kingpin Cummings (Martin Balsam), who's taking HIS orders from a couple of other higher ups in the heroin chain. You can't fault Mitchell for his inventiveness, I particularly liked the 'smash the goon's hand in the car door' trick; that looked pretty painful. And if I ever see another picture that features a death by dune buggy, I'll know the inspiration was born here.Apart from Linda Evans' hooker falling for a guy like Mitchell, the way he scrapped vehicles like old pairs of socks, and the picture's goofy 'Mitchell' theme song, you know what really freaked me out? How did old Mitch know which switch in the electrical panel would have operated the front gate at the beginning of the story? Then he did it again by hitting the right one to close down the swing doors in Saxon's hallway. I open my panel about once a year when I have to shut something down, and it'll take me a few minutes just to figure out the right one.

A ten, you say? Sure, you might admit, Mitchell is decent, certainly better than the usual MST fare. But a ten on IMDb?Let me justify: As a fan of many movies, not just those with big budgets or respected reputations, I am willing to address a film on its own terms. And, having done so with Mitchell, I am proud and unabashed to state that it is a great movie. The plot is easily navigable, and contains a handful of genuinely intriguing moments. In addition, several of the characters, including even Mitchell himself, are somewhat morally ambiguous, lending a certain credibility to the film.Sure, it's 70s fabulous, and parts of it are slow-developing. However, those facts are easily ignored when one chooses to focus on the acting performances in the movie, perhaps highlighted by the work of Martin Balsam, who plays the shrewd yet compromised white-collar gangster. Indeed, his performance is to be commended.And the same goes for the rest of the cast: in almost every case, the actors and actresses do a commendable job, including that object of so much comedic ridicule, Joe Don himself.Bottom line, this is a cool, fun renegade cop movie, and I highly recommend it, in either version (original or MST3K). Enjoy, please!!

It's a good thing a movie like "Mitchell" was made and a star like Joe Don Baker ran the show - without the two things together, how would have the 70s had given us the finest in cinema, huh? I mean, all the funny things happen here in "Mitchell" - and I will not give these things away, because not all of us have seen this movie - yet! (Including me - I want to see the MST3K version!) Speaking of which, this movie is best seen on "Mystery Science Theater 3000," because instead of a horror movie being lampooned, it was a cheesy action film that got the boot! Also, it's amazing how a now out-of-print TV copy has made it this far thanks to the Best Brains deciding to use a heavily edited version for all to see!