Movie

A Piece of the Action

1977 · 135 min

A breezy, amiable caper that coasts on star chemistry and gentle laughs, with a warm heart beneath the con.

Tagline: A delightfully delicious dilemma!
Overview: How does retired cop Joshua Burke (James Earl Jones) get two career criminals, Manny Durrell (Sidney Poitier) and Dave Anderson (Bill Cosby), to follow the straight and narrow? Con them into helping juvenile delinquents turn over a new leaf. But how? Burke has never been able to nail the duo, but he uses what he knows of their seedy past to blackmail them into volunteering.

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How it feels

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Tone: lightstrength 2 of 3
warmstrength 2 of 3
satiricalstrength 1 of 3
earneststrength 1 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: redemption
crime
class
found family
friendship
Places: big city
workplace
Era: contemporary
Audience: teen
Form: ensemble
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	4
Horror	0
Humour	7
Realism	6
Romance	4
Tension	4
Darkness	3
Complexity	5
Emotional weight	4

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Where to watch in the UK

Rent or buy

Apple TV Store
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YouTube

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres: comedy, crime
Directed by: Sidney Poitier
Written by: Charles Blackwell
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, James Earl Jones, Denise Nicholas, Hope Clarke, Tracy Reed, Ja'net DuBois, Sheryl Lee Ralph
Music: Curtis Mayfield
Cinematography: Donald M. Morgan
Runtime: 135 min
Country: United States of America
Languages: English, Spanish

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A Piece of the Action

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