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Shaft (1971)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
A rhythmically exciting Harlem detective story, Shaft pulsates with street-level vernacular and a deep sense of conviction. John Shaft (Richard Roundtree), a black private-eye with run-down corner office, lives up to his reputation as a tough operator. Garnering respect from both cops and hoods, Shaft stands bestride the black-white divide with ease. Vic Androzzy (Charles Cioffi) is a good detective (and ally) who likes to pump Shaft for news on Harlem, particularly when there seem to be rumbles of approaching trouble (as there are at the moment). Shaft is always a model of reticence, although he becomes more voluble when a pair of hired guns jump him in his office and he is forced to throw one out of the window (he's not on the ground floor!). Cutting a deal with Vic, whereby he provides the minimum of information, Shaft checks up on local gangster boss Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn). He sent the goons and Shaft wants to know why.

When Bumpy shows up at the office, with some muscle, Shaft brooks no nonsense and makes it clear just what he thinks of Bumpy and his tactics. This seems a risky move but Bumpy takes the abuse very calmly, for reasons which become clear when he lays out a job for Shaft. His only daughter has been abducted and he'll pay anything for her safe return, with Shaft being chosen for his connections. The name of an old friend, Ben Buford (Christopher St John), is thrown into the conversation so Shaft makes a few enquiries among his low-life contacts. In the years since their parting Ben has become active in a black-power outfit, which provides a possible motive, although he denies all knowledge when Shaft tracks him to a decrepit apartment building. Suddenly the corridor is wracked by machine-gun fire, with Shaft and Ben only just escaping from the massacre. The big question now is who exactly were the killers after?

Down-town Vic is increasingly exasperated with Shaft, since all he ever finds out is that Shaft got laid again! He's a real hit with the ladies, even though he treats them with the same level of respect as everyone else, but such romantic antics are only diversionary. A chat with Vic reveals that the situation is a lot more complicated than originally thought, with Bumpy being involved in holding up a Mafia drugs courier. A large group of Mob killers have recently arrived in the city, an event almost certainly connected with the kidnapping of Bumpy's little darling. It looks a lot like Shaft has been taken for a dupe by Bumpy, leaving a number of people dead, and Shaft is extremely unhappy about this. Heading into the ghetto, with Ben, Shaft forces a meeting with the boss and finally finds out just what he's been dropped into the middle of.

In the great tradition of detective movies Shaft is a hard-bitten loner who spars with friends and foe alike, then gets just what he wants from everyone. The spin here is that Shaft is black while the bad guys are exclusively white (this isn't a particularly rigid division though), hence lots of racial themes can be mixed in. The overall atmosphere is great, a mixture of dingy, claustrophobic hotel rooms and neglected city streets, while the characters slot into the environment smoothly. Shaft is a fine private investigator, honest to himself, dedicated and disdainful of the weaknesses of others while blind to his own. Roundtree fills out the role believably while the surrounding cast work well together, even if the stereotype line is occasionally breached. Several nice moments in the script carry the film over its dull passages, all leading up to a superb finale. Shaft may not be a complex thriller but it's a lot of fun and it manages to evade looking fatally dated at the same time.

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