Night of the Juggler (1980)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Sorry, this movie sucks

Overrated and overhyped

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There is no question that this film is dated, New York is much nicer than before. But the chase scene involving ex-cop Sean Boyd (James Brolin) vs psychotic Gus Soltic (Cliff Gorman), who kidnapped his daughter Kathy out of error (He thought she was rich), vs corrupt cop Sgt. Otis Barnes (Dan Hedeya), makes the film work. Barnes is without question the worst of the worst, he not only wanted to get Boyd for testifying against him, but wanted to let Soltic get away with his daughter. Spoilers: I liked it when this guy got torn apart in the zoo. Maria (Julie Carmen) really works well as the love interest. He meets her on the (6) train, and she helps him navigate around through the South Bronx, and at the zoo, she also stands up to gang bangers who complain about Boyd being with "Our Women." The best character is Lt. Torelli (Richard Castellano), who starts out very suspicious of Boyd, then starts to take his side, and along with Maria become the only allies that Boyd has. I liked the film a lot, but the dating requires a deduction of 2 stars. 8/10.

Night of the Juggler is set in New York City & starts as ex-cop, truck driver & loving father Sean Boyd (James Brolin) arrives home to wish his fifteen year old daughter Kathy (Abby Bluestone) a happy birthday, Sean decides to walk with Kathy to school through the park. Meanwhile the bitter & psychopathic sewer worker Gus Soltic (Cliff Gorman) has been watching a girl named Virginia Clayton (Robyn Finn) the daughter of rich property developer Hampton Richmond Clayton III (Marco St. John) who has used gangs of thugs to drive people of of his neighbourhood in order to buy the land cheaply, Gus plans to kidnap Virginia & hold her to ransom for one million dollars but his plan goes wrong & he ends up kidnapping Kathy Boyd by mistake. Having seen his daughter taken Sean sets out on a mission to find & rescue her, he has to deal with bent cops, pimps, gangs, his ex-wife & Gus himself in a final showdown to the death...This oddly titled late 70's New York set action thriller is apparently also known as New York Killer here in the UK, Countdown in Manhattan in Germany, New York Connection in France & Pursued in Canada & was directed by Robert Butler, under any name Night of the Juggler was based on the novel by William P. McGivern & is a pretty decent film that probably doesn't deserve to be as obscure as it currently is. The plot is pretty good, the script doesn't waste much time in getting going & once Kathy is kidnapped the pace is pretty relentless as we get car chases, fights, a brawl at a peep show, hostile gangs, pimps, dirty cops & a variety of oddball character's from stripper's to homeless drunks & surprisingly helpful taxi cab driver's. I wouldn't say any of Night of the Juggler is breathtaking & I wouldn't describe it as a lost masterpiece (it's neither lost nor a masterpiece so why would I?!) but for what it is I liked it enough. The New York setting really helps, in fact the city & it's inhabitants & locations are as much the star as any of the character's, I suppose it's a touch predictable & maybe a little bit too long at 100 minutes but I had a decent time watching it. The character's are alright & serve their purpose & the script has a reasonable go at tackling some themes like racism, poverty, corruption & the basic concept of community or the lack of it.From the skyscrapers of the city to Central park to the graffiti covered trains & tube stations to the porno district with pimps, hookers & peep shows to the dark underground sewer system to housing estates that look like someone dropped a nuclear bomb on it Night of the Juggler spans just about most of New York & it's gritty, sleazy late 70's early 80's cesspool feel & look. If nothing else Night of the Juggler is a bit of a nostalgia trip as the New York seen here is very different to the New York of today. The action scenes are pretty good, from an impressive car chase to a shoot-out in the middle of New York to fights & the final somewhat forgettable climax inside the sewer system. There's some nudity & a fair bit of violence but nothing gory or sadistic.Filmed on location in New York you could not make Night of the Juggler now, apart from the landscape of New York looking completely different just think how much it would cost to stage the car chases & shoot-outs in filming permits alone. There's very little information about Night of the Juggler out there, as far as I am aware at this point it has never even been released on DVD. The acting is pretty good as various actor's bring the odd assortment of New York character's to life. Richard S. Castellano from The Godfather (1972) looks like he is one fry-up away from a heart attack.Night of the Juggler is a decent action thriller with some seriously sleazy overtones, it has a decent story & good action scenes while the Big Rotten Apple as it was back then provides some stark settings. I liked it & despite the awful title I would recommend it, I didn't love it but I liked it.

My word what a ride! Bizarre and spiteful, but dynamically boundless. Now that they don't make urban action thrillers like this any more. They just wouldn't dare. But boy do I miss them. "Night of the Juggler" is a jaunty, outrageous and politically incorrect very late 70s chase thriller filled with a lot running, chaotic driving (stealing police cars), chewy dialogues and ballsy beat-ups. It's a relentlessly raw and intense barrage, as our protagonist violently bounces from here to there encountering cops, corrupt cops, an ex-wife, pimps, prostitutes, bouncers and street gangs along the authentically seedy strips of New York in his quest to find his kidnapped daughter. In what was a bungled napping attempt of mistaken identity… although the kidnapper still believes he has the right girl; that of a wealthy real-estate owner. Now just wait until James Brolin's ruggedly scruffy ex-cop character gets his hands on the madcap kidnapper. There'll be hell to pay! Everyone he comes across that stands in his way have felt it. The pulpy plot might be "heavily" contrived, unpleasant and fairly ridiculous, as it goes beyond and pushes reality many times. However this one-man riot machine provides on-going gritty, seedy and unapologetic excitement. No one is safe from this one man's devotion. "I've got to find my little girl." A chiselled Brolin is fitting in the central role, looking and acting the part. Cliff Gorman is particularly edgy as the scummy kidnapper. Then you have Richard S. Castellano bringing some solidity and Dan Hedaya is memorable as a psychotic cop. Director Robert Butler provides great location staging for its action and keeps a frenetic pace keeping things rough and ready. It might not be high-art, but this grungy, slam-bang action fodder is smashing entertainment.

Ah, "Night of the Juggler"! Someone has called it a "New York Sleazefest"; unfortunately, they got it all wrong, for it is more a "New York CHEESEfest". This tale of a former, disgraced, ex-cop whose daughter is kidnapped by mistake and his search for her and the man who has taken her, tried desperately to be gritty and 'real' but manages only to be as pure ham as its villain, Cliff Gorman, who continued here to swallow scenery - and fellow actors - whole, just as he had in every single movie unfortunate to have him in it. Perhaps nothing prepares the viewer for how bad the proceedings will be better than its opening scene, wherein Gorman violently douses a plate of eggs and bacon with ketchup, all meant to suggest how "unhinged" he his. Not for a moment off-putting or disturbing, as it's intended to be, one can only laugh at its absurdity. Soon after the eggs-and-ketchup-as-blood bit, we're treated to overly earnest, bearded he-man James Brolin, bedecked in the era's best flannel shirt and jeans, and his pubescent daughter, played by one Abby Bluestone. It is at this point when the film jumps clearly from amusing schlock into thigh-slapping camp, as the director, cinematographer, and especially the costume designer seem determined to humiliate the poor actress: from the get-go, she performs in a manner that suggests...well...mild retardation, what with her slow-as-molasses line readings, whiny voice, lumbering movements that suggest any movement beyond reaching for a Happy Meal will sap all her energy, and a costume that is, at best, an insult to any young woman, let alone one who is, um, quite so "cuddly". While it's initially refreshing to see a plus-size young girl on screen in lieu of any number of underfed so-called beauties, WHO exactly decided to put this already-unattractive chubette in a shapeless Osh Kosh B'Gosh denim overall and give her that hideous Richard Simmons white-boy afro??? If this getup was supposed to suggest a certain tomboyish quality, it fails, for you can't help but notice just how much she resembles that "It's Pat" character from those unfunny "SNL" skits. While you pity the poor thing this cross to bear, her acting only inspires greater laughter. Once she's abducted by Gorman, who - I swear - rolls his eyes, licks his lips, and would, if he had one, twirl his mustache, things get even hokier, as Brolin manhandles all who get in the way of finding his kid, including the ubiquitous Dan Hedaya in an early appearance as a less-than-receptive cop who has his own beef with Brolin. Hedaya matches Gorman toe-to-toe in their attempts to out-cheese one another (though they share no screen time), and he nearly wins. Hedaya's scenery-chewing, and the film's ridiculousness, reach new heights in a scene where he chases Brolin through the streets of this pre-Disney/Pataki/Guiliani New York City, shooting up everyone and everything, presumably without much recourse...until, of course, Brolin punches him out. Of course! Along the way, Brolin meets up with a young Mandy Patinkin, here miscast as an Hispanic cabbie (replete with Speedy Gonzalez accent), porn star/health activist Sharon Lawrence (as an exotic dancer in a an adult bookstore - back when NYC still had them!), Linda Miller as his ex-wife (she's one of those actresses who can sob and sob but magically produce no visible tears) and, finally, Julie Carmen, who decides to help him. The scene where the Latin street gang chase them is, alone, worth countless laughs as - you guessed it! - Brolin doles out his special brand of brawn and shows them what-for. I particularly enjoy a moment during the gang chase where Brolin and Carmen seem to merely be jogging away from them. Things degenerate when the film tries to become lurid and sensational with the twist that Gorman has just kidnapped this ungainly kid not only for ransom but for 'romantic' purposes, to boot. The scene where he tries to force her to wear a dress is a hoot, instead of being tense, thanks to two rotten performers bouncing off one another: Gorman, all tics and actor's tricks, emoting for all the world to see; and Bluestone, whiny and generally unsympathetic (other than the fact that she's a kid, one doesn't really care about her). What makes it all that much worse is that, despite numerous opportunities to escape, this girl does nothing, for the most part, and when she finally DOES attempt a getaway, you'll be biting your lip as this pudgy pubescent waddles her way over assorted rubble. If it sounds like I'm being cruel, or "fattist", let me add here I, too, am not food-shy and have plenty of extra baggage of my own. So, quite frankly, if the makers of this film, nor its actress, nor anyone else involved, cared enough to present her in a flattering light, why should the viewer make apologies? Finally, the showdown between Brolin and Gorman comes, and it takes place underground (pathetically underlit, in the old video transfer I own). Try and suppress those giggles as the filmmakers want us to believe Gorman is any match for punch-first-ask-questions-later Brolin. Those same suppressed giggles will automatically be unleashed at the moment when, sensing he's lost, Gorman attempts one last attack on Brolin and lunges for him, emitting this high-pitched, utterly girlish, squeal that'll have you rolling on the floor. A few moments later, all and sundry walk off into the sunrise and an ill-fitting disco tune rears from nowhere over the end credits. While it may appeal to the action-flick crowd, or a less-demanding audience, its REAL appeal lies at the feet of those of us who truly treasure lousy movie-making. If that's you, go ahead and indulge. WALLOW in its awfulness. My friend Michelle considers this one of the great laugh-out-loud experiences. Give it a shot and see if you don't agree.