REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER (1975)

Clueless attempt to make a gritty Sidney Lumet-like NYC police meller (think SERPICO/’73, DOG DAY AFTERNOON/’75, PRINCE OF THE CITY/’81) fails badly.* With an overwrought Michael Moriarty sabotaging his rising career playing a softhearted/softheaded new generation undercover narc who shoots fellow undercover officer Susan Blakely, unaware she’s on a job, playing mistress to the city’s top black drug dealer. (Imagine that holding up in court.) No spoilers needed here since the whole shebang gets told in flashback as investigators work up their ‘Report to the Commissioner.’ The great Yaphet Kotto is around as the kid’s unwilling partner in the unit, adding a touch of verisimilitude to the proceedings. But he’s fighting a losing battle between lousy toupées on character actors and the film’s big set piece, an overdrawn climax that starts with a chase thru Midtown (with hunky dealer in white boxers) and ends as a Mexican Standoff in a Saks Fifth Avenue elevator! William Devane, Bob Balaban & a very young Richard Gere give the film a bit of a celebrity lift, and ‘70s street vibe adds pulse, but nothing can save this clunker.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Stick with the above mentioned Lumet trio.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Abby Mann co-wrote the adaptation with his signature note of borrowed importance.