Freebie and the Bean (1974)

The Worst Film Ever

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

My Dad took me to see this in the theatre when I was 11 and we both loved it. For the last couple of decades my Dad has been asking me if I could find a copy so we could watch it again. I finally found a copy and we sat down to watch it after almost 45 years. My Dad was thrilled! We both really wanted to love it as much as we did in 1973. We didn't.Everything was way over the top! Brutally corny and ham-fisted. We watched about 15 minutes (I was prepared to suffer through the whole movie if necessary) when my Dad said, "Yah. Okay. This is crap", and I had to agree.We wanted to LOVE this movie. We had such great memories of seeing it in the theatre, yet we couldn't stand it for more than about 15 minutes.I was so relieved that he wanted to turn it off, but I was so disappointed that this movie wasn't what we remembered.If you watch this today and love it I really envy you. 10 out of 10, aged down to an unwatchable 1. Average: 5

Things that aren't around any more... ethnic slurs (even the title is an insult!) and... old scenes of san francisco. The 1989 earthquake knocked down the embarcadero highway, which is featured several times in this fun throwback. James Caan and Alan Arkin are partners in this amateur hour detective work film... clearly setting Arkin up for "The In-Laws", with Peter Falk. The GOOD version, from 1979. Arkin plays the nervous partner, who doesn't appreciate the constant, nutty antics of his partner; SO similar to his role in The In-Laws. It's also kind of funny to hear Rhoda (Valerie Harper!) speaking bent español. so mean to the LGBT character. and Loretta Swit is in here as the wife of the mafia boss. Director Richard Rush only did a couple more after this one. It's pretty fun. Funny, without trying to be funny. Pretty good. It IS available on dvd, but it's so politically incorrect, you probably WON'T find it on any cable channel. Lot's of car smash-ups and physical humor, but there's enough verbal banter to keep it entertaining.

For what it is - a cop buddy movie - FREEBIE AND THE BEAN is the paragon. Violent action, high comedy, low humor, more car wrecks than a weekend with the Lohans, and something rare in any genre: two hours of genuine sympathy between grown men. Plus Alex Rocco. Alan Arkin and James Caan play cops in love, an un-ironic friendship displayed with banter and charisma. Mutual appreciation and respect is palpable in every scene. (This is even more impressive in light of Alan Arkin's public denigration of working with Richard Rush and this particular film-making experience generally.) They are aided by a Laurel & Hardy-meet-Lenny Bruce sensibility in the script and direction, which demands the extent of their abilities at the height of their powers. Gifted comedians both, Arkin and Caan invest the technical stuff - timing, delivery, physicality - with real emotion. It doesn't hurt that Robert Kaufman and Floyd Mutrux have given them wonderful things to say, and wonderful situations in which to say them. Richard Rush uses a lot of carnival music, and this is not his only evidence of carny taste. He likes to titillate, shock and amaze. That's all fine, as far as entertainment goes, but Rush has aspirations. Throughout his career he's made gestures to the absurd and surreal, with mixed results. His movies often seem giddy, his hand showing on purpose, pawing in self-reflexive gesture. This kind of trapeze act doesn't always work. THE STUNTMAN, for all its many virtues, does not pull off 100% of the tricks up its sleeve. Fellini and Fosse had a surer hand for that sort of detail. This movie aims lower and succeeds at just about every level, though careening on two wheels. The whole film feels just on the edge of out-of-control: the plot, the story, the action, all strain credibility. The cops kill people, destroy public and private property, bicker, donnybrook; the robbers preen, prance and pratfall. The jokes and the violence push the limits of good taste. And the guy on that trials bike isn't even trying to look like James Caan. But it's all part of the cuckoo world of Me Generation Hollywood, show biz kids drunk with power and roaring for approval. You can almost catch a buzz off all the cocaine blowing around the post-hippie pre-yuppie San Francisco set.

Really great interaction as it shows the interaction between two cops who come from different worlds, but still care for each other. I love the gags, Car into the apartment, and especially the scene in the bowling alley mens room. The bullet falling on the floor...and then all heck breaks loose!!I see that scene every time I go into a mens room. And it's been 20+ years since I've seen the movie. It's a Classic! Alan Arkin is as great as he is in "The In-Laws". .Another Classic. And James Caen... Plays the totally believable cop who uses the system to get as much for himself as is possible.