Street Law (1974)

Carlo is an honest and hard working citizen.  One day he gets caught up in a robbery and fights back against the gang pulling the job.  They end up beating him and leaving him in their getaway car.  The police aren’t much help telling Carlo he shouldn’t have fought back and threaten to arrest him when he yells at them.  So Carlo takes it upon himself to track down the gang.  After a few mistakes he finally comes up with a plan and finds them.  But when he calls the police the criminals are warned and they take off.  Now Carlo knows that he must take a more direct route to get his revenge and show the thieves and hoods that they can’t get away with it.

I had a blast with this movie.  It starts off really fast with the robbery and an extended car chase.  After that burst of activity we get to watch Carlo, played by Franco Nero, as he tries to get a handle on how he can track them down.  The movie does a nice job here showing us how obsessed Carlo is with his task.  His pride was injured in the way they treated him and he is going to get some payback, even if it kills him.  Unlike a lot of other revenge movies I thought it was a nice touch showing Carlo making mistakes.  He doesn’t go from a normal guy to an action hero overnight.  In fact even when the movie gets to the big finale Carlo is still a regular guy trying to make it through the night.  For me this makes the character and the story so much better and it is a great choice.  It also makes the ending more fun for me as well.  When the “bad guys” get what is coming to them it is so much more satisfying seeing Carlo’s struggles. 

Since this is an Italian Crime movie I want to make sure that I talk some about the action sequences.  As I’ve already mentioned the movie has a car chase towards the beginning and it is nicely done.  It is easy to follow what is going on, but at the same time has a bit of a chaotic feel to it as cars are skidding around and smashing into things.  This is cut with shots of Carlo being smacked around by the angry gang, who at this point have carted him along in the getaway vehicle.  Later on there is another bit with a car basically being used to beat up Carlo as he tries to escape the gang.  This could have been a silly scene but it is choreographed in such a way that it works.  Toss in a nice gunfight at the end of the movie and you have a movie that delivers the goods.  I think much of the credit for this should go to the director, Enzo G. Castellari, who hardly ever lets down his audience in this sort of movie. 

This movie is a blast and I recommend that everyone give it a shot.  I would be surprised if you didn’t like it.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2011 John Shatzer