Firepower (1979)

Sophia Loren and James Coburn . . . Yes Please!, 26 July 2019

The Quick Pitch:  A respected chemist is murdered because of information he has on some faulty pharmaceuticals.  The chemist’s wife, Adele Tasca (Shopia Loren) wants the government to bring gun-for-hire Jerry Fanon (James Coburn) out of retirement to track down the man responsible.  From there on, things get complicated with twist after twist that I’m not going to even try to explain.

Across the internet, I see a lot of people slagging on Firepower.  No, it’s not great and it’s got its share of problems, but it sure is fun.  As my title indicates, tell me a movie stars both Loren and Coburn and I’m in.  I thought both were quite good given the material they were handed. The supporting cast is interesting, with Anthony Franciosa, Eli Wallach, Vincent Gardenia, and O.J. Simpson (Simpson’s line about not killing anyone made me chuckle).  Add in plenty of over-the-top explosions, lots of intrigue, and some fantastic looking Caribbean locations, and everything is in place for a good time.   

Unfortunately, though, there’s  a thing called plot that’s necessary for a good movie.  The problem with Firepower is that the plot is too complicated for its own good.  There are so many twists and turns that I defy anyone to keep up and understand everything that’s going on.  Who is on whose side? What is the mob’s role? Who is Fanon’s lookalike and why is he in the movie? A simpler plot would have really helped.  

One more thing that gave me more than one unintentional laugh, as Fanon and Co are making their escape from the baddie’s plantation, they are helped along over and over again by some of the most fortunate coincidences I’ve ever seen.  For example, Fanon is being chased by three guys on horseback with a helicopter overhead. Miraculously, just as the baddies are bearing down on Fanon, a preset explosive detonates, destroying the helicopter. The three biggest chunks of the wreckage just happen to hit the three guys on the horses.  How convenient!  

5/10