- Coffy
- Written and Directed by Jack Hill
- May 13, 1973 (Chicago)
A female vigilante seeks revenge against the heroin dealer responsible for her young sister’s addiction.
I certainly liked the idea behind Coffy. It’s a tried-and-true concept where an individual goes on a vigilante spree for whatever reason and because they are a completely unanticipated outside factor, they have a great deal of success. Here Pam Grier’s character is a nurse with a junkie younger sister hooked on heroin so she sets out to kill all the people connected to her sister’s habit. Great idea!
Pam Grier made a name for herself in blaxploitation cinema. And deservedly so. It was rare to have a female as the central character let alone an African American woman in an action-oriented film. Here Grier plays Nurse Flower Child “Coffy” Coffin though I would not know her full name if I had not looked it up. She is referred to almost exclusively as “Coffy” with “Nurse Coffin” used sporadically.
I do have some issues here. The film also starts in the middle of the action. From the looks of it Coffy is deep into her plan to work her way up murdering people by the time the story starts. It’s like they left out 20 minutes or so of film. And that affects characterization and just general investment into the narrative. I myself was playing a bit of mental catchup to understand what was going on.
Another problem I have is the sister the one time we see her. She says or does absolutely nothing and thus we have no idea what the relationship exactly is like other than what Coffy tells us. We get no insight ourselves into it making her whole motivation more than a bit flimsy and weak. Her drive for vengeance is based on her love for her sister and the girl is little different than any piece of furniture in that particular scene. Her presence lasted maybe a whopping 15 seconds. A little dialogue or a scene featuring between just the two is warranted.
The shots are uncomfortably tight. I get that element of low budget productions but there’s a tight shot and then there is claustrophobic. I’m not sure why they had to get so tight in some instances but then again I’m not intimately familiar with the nuances of film production.
The music doesn’t seem to fit either. It just feels a little off like it doesn’t quite capture what the movie is. That goes especially the closing credits song which sounds to way too sexy. It’s what you would put on if you’re having a nightcap with someone rather than having your character walk off into the sunset after they enacted bloody vengeance.
And then there is the plot of Coffy that stumbles more than progresses. It doesn’t feel as focused as it should. Was this rewritten on the fly? That is the impression I was left with. Not exactly uncommon but can hurt an otherwise possibly solid film.
What I find really entertaining are the number of relatively familiar faces in this movie. One or two I would certainly expect in a movie but Allan Arbus (best known as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the television series M*A*S*H) as Italian drug kingpin Arturo Vitroni or Robert DoQui (known from the RoboCop films) as pimp King George or even the great Sid Haig as Vitroni muscle Omar? In hindsight an unusual combo.
The action is good and Grier has a charm and general presence that lifts this even if it is imperfect. She can really sell it when she is spraying bullets or threatening somebody. Plus Grier has general talent.
While not as good as it could’ve been, Coffy is an entertaining movie. It’s a good idea just not as well executed as it could’ve been. I don’t feel I wasted my time but it’s something I can only say if you want.
Warren Watched A Movie 