Thu 10 Mar 2016
A Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER (1980).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Reviews[4] Comments
NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER. Columbia Pictures, 1980. James Brolin, Cliff Gorman, Richard Castellano, Linda Miller, Barton Heyman, Sully Boyar, Julie Carmen, Abby Bluestone, Dan Hedaya, Mandy Patinkin. Based on the novel by William P. McGivern. Director: Robert Butler.
Night of the Juggler isn’t for the faint of heart. While it’s not particularly violent or gruesome, it’s exceedingly gritty and seedy. But that’s what you might expect from a psychological thriller/action film set in the decaying streets of Manhattan and the South Bronx circa 1980.
James Brolin portrays Sean Boyd, a former NYC cop turned truck driver, as he pummels and punches his way through Times Square and gang-infested streets. All in order to save his teenage daughter from a psychopath who, believing she was the daughter of a wealthy real estate developer, has kidnapped her and is holding her for a million dollar ransom. Brolin’s physicality is on full display here, as he doesn’t so much as act as he becomes a force of nature in the vein of Burt Reynolds or Liam Neeson at their best.
Brolin’s character is also a Virgil figure, taking the viewer on a journey into Gotham’s most hellish and hopeless spots. It’s a bleak Inferno, one populated by peep shows, violent cops, ruthless street toughs, and crumbling infrastructure. The scenes in the South Bronx are a stark reminder of what that part of the city looked like some three and a half decades ago. As far as Times Square is concerned, the one featured in the film looks nothing like the posh family-friendly Disneyland that it is today.
As a crime thriller, Night of the Juggler is a perfectly adequate film, but nothing more. As a time capsule into a barely recognizable New York, this somewhat forgotten feature is captivating, if unnerving, to watch.
March 11th, 2016 at 10:20 am
It’s been 35 years but I still remember how much I hated this movie, especially so since I liked McGivern’s book a lot.
March 11th, 2016 at 6:02 pm
Brolin is the big problem for me with this film in that he just lacks the weight or the power to get behind this kind of role. Imagine what Bruce Willis might have done with it or Liam Neeson and it is easy to see how badly Brolin is miscast.
Bland Midwesterner is not how I saw the character in the book but it is how Brolin comes across. It’s a bit like a dachshund trying to play a Doberman, both bite, but still …
This movie really tanked for me, a surprise because like Jeff above, I liked the book.
March 11th, 2016 at 9:04 pm
I could see Neeson in this role, but not Willis. I like him as an actor, but he’s too much of a smart aleck/wise guy character for this role.
That said, I didn’t read the book in which I understand the main character is an ex-Army guy. In the film, he’s an ex-cop. Brolin to my mind is adequate, but doesn’t have a particularly unique edge to his character
August 8th, 2016 at 6:40 pm
I loved this film. Brolin is perfect in the role as all physicality, no personality. That’s all that is required. This is an adequate action film, but what really sets it apart is it displays NYC circa late 70s in all its sleazy, seedy, apocalyptic, hateful, angry and crime-ridden glory like no other film I have ever seen, and I make a point of seeing such things. It’s like watching a setting of hell on earth.