Foxy Brown

source: Foxy Brown

My score of 5 is indicative of the quality of the production--not the entertainment value. Sure, the film is silly, occasionally poorly directed and produced and it sure would never win any accolades for its artistic merits. But on the other hand, it is very entertaining and is a definite "guilty pleasure"--you know, a film that you love but isn't a particularly good film. While it was not as exciting as Pam Grier's prior film, COFFY, it was a little better aesthetically--with less of the cheesy violence (no exploding heads in this one) , but it still packs a mean punch and it's nice to see Grier's acting has improved. Like COFFY, FOXY BROWN is about a one-woman demolition team out to destroy a drug syndicate. In this sense, the film isn't so original and at times it's more like a sequel than a stand-alone film. This isn't all bad, as the action is still there as well as all the excitement. But this time it's all a bit more tame and not quite as shocking. Also, sadly, FOXY BROWN ended rather poorly in my opinion. By the end of COFFY, every drug dealer was stone cold dead--but in FOXY BROWN, she oddly left a couple of them beaten (and in one case BADLY damaged) but alive. To me, this just wasn't as satisfying--I wanted to see them all bite the dust! Like most so-called "Blaxploitation" films, this one is super-violent and full of nudity. It's a film you best not show your kids or to a nun!

Terrible movie that doesn't stand the test of time. Seeing it for the first time in 2003 everything looks and sounds very bizarre. Pam Grier actually says "sho nuff" in one scene. Curious to know who the art director, clothes & set designer were. I couldn't be bothered to check the credits. 4th rate work.

Foxy Brown (Pam Grier) welcomes home her Federal Narcotics agent boyfriend Dalton Ford after two years undercover which ultimately ended empty-handed due to corruption in the system. He is released and given new identity Michael Anderson. Foxy's brother Link is in trouble with crime lord Steve Elias after losing a $20k drug stash. Elias is protected by Katherine Wall and her stable of high class call girls. The welcome is a *. Right On. It has one of the icons of blaxploitation, Pam Grier. There is no other woman like Foxy Brown. I do wish for better writing and sharper action. The story is a simple revenge plot written by a high school level author and the moviemaking is B-movie level from start to finish. I didn't expect much. All of it is saved by the powerhouse that is Pam Grier. I also like Antonio Fargas until he does his death scene. That is some trash overacting. One thing I desperately want is a better theme song for Foxy. She deserves a Shaft level calling card.

I am a huge fan of blaxploitation goddess Pam Grier, and Jack Hill's "Coffy" of 1973 is both my favorite Grier-film and one of the absolute greatest Blaxploitation films ever made. While this "Foxy Brown" of 1974, which is very similar in its premise, is not quite as cool as "Coffy" it is yet another immensely entertaining and bad-ass blaxploitation classic. It is funny how director Jack Hill often repeated a successful idea - he made two WIP (Women In Prison) flicks, "The Big Doll House" (1971) and "The Big Bird Cage" (1972), both starring Grier, and then went on to make two 'Female Avenger' themed Blaxploitation flicks, also both starring Grier, "Coffy" (1973) and "Foxy Brown" (1974). And it is no wonder that the ravishing Miss Grier was always chosen to star as the foxy female ass-kicker. Grier unites incredible sexiness and incredible coolness, and is therefore predestined to play exploitation heroines of the kind. Storywise, "Foxy Brown" is quite near to what "Coffy" was, a film about a black beauty with style, Foxy Brown (Pam Grier), who is taking on ruthless mobsters in order to take bloody revenge for a loved one... At first I had the impression that the film would be a little tamer than "Coffy" in sleaze and violence, but "Foxy Brown" really catches up on these qualities a bit later in the film. It is not quite as cool as "Coffy", but still stylish enough. I personally preferred the character of Coffy to that of Foxy Brown, as well as the reasons of the revenge, and I especially preferred the villains in "Coffy" to those in this one. Out of all the blaxploitation films I've seen so far, however, "Coffy" is my favorite, and while "Foxy Brown" is certainly inferior, it is nonetheless great fun and a must-see for blaxploitation lovers. As mentioned above, sexy Pam Grier is great in the role, and the film has an overall wonderfully funky atmosphere. The groovy theme song in the very beginning ("Supabaaaad") already promises 90 minutes of great fun. The supporting cast includes the great Sid Haig, who was in plenty of films with Grier around the time, in a small role. Overall the film is no "Coffy", but it is definitely an immensely entertaining blaxploitation classic that cult-cinema fans should not miss!

Foxy Brown is one of Pam Grier's best blaxploitation movies (topped only by Coffy). From the James Bondish opening sequence of Pam dancing to the "Foxy Brown" theme song, to Antonio Fargas ("That's my sister...and she's a whole lotta woman!") to the spectacular ending which I will not spoil, this is a must see for any a) Pam Grier fan b)blaxploitation fan c)anybody who wants to see a strong female character beat the crap out of her opponents. That being said, it does feature the standard "Grier sleeps her way to the top of crime syndicate", a plot ripped off of Coffy. With scenes like the famous "Afro as holster" sequence and the inclusion of a Black Panther-esque anti-drug group this movie is fun from start to finish. Don't believe that Maltin; Mr. Charlie gave LaserBlast a better rating; he gave Sheba Baby, which is awful, a better rating. See Foxy Brown tonite!

Foxy Brown, was one of the gems of the Blaxploitation era. It's positively campy, gritty, and exciting. The fabulous, drop-dead gorgeous Pam Grier, played Foxy Brown with a seething conviction. After her man was gunned-down by drug-dealers, Foxy is out for blood. And she makes sure that the bad-guys shed their share, while she goes about the task of settling the score. Pam Grier made Foxy's rage and obsession with revenge, seem palpable. Foxy did whatever she had to do, to make the villains pay. The viewer really gets caught-up in Foxy's quest for justice. You want to cheer, when Foxy gets even with those who did her wrong. Pam Grier's stunning good looks, and her athletic grace, made her a perfect choice to play Foxy Brown. I can't imagine any other woman starring in this role. No other black female actress, was as compelling on-screen as Pam Grier was in the 70s. The cool funkiness of 70s Blaxploitation cinema, is certainly in evidence in Foxy Brown. The outrageously tacky clothes, giant 'fros, jive-talking' characters, slick cars, sexy mamas, gun-totin' urban thugs-it's all here in this film. If you're looking for a fat, juicy slice of 70s Blaxploitation, then Foxy Brown is just the movie for you.

This is shamelessly trashy. And very cheesy. And aside from Ms Grier, the acting is soap opera-grade. And its hilariously dated. And just all around hilarious. And Pam Grier is one sexy bad-ass chick. Or rather: Superbad! Can you dig it? The gun hidden in the afro was a nice touch. So was the death-by-airplane-propeller. And the brawl in the lesbian bar. And the revenge-by-manhood-removal. We get to see her *. Large, shapely *. I was hugely entertained. There really isn't more that I need to say.

Former Roger Corman protege and writer/director of horror cult classic 'Spiderbaby' really struck gold when he started to work with Pam Grier, helping her to become a blaxploitation icon. The first two Hill/Grier collaborations were women in prison movies with Grier an important part of an ensemble cast (which also included Hill regular the legendary Sid Haig). Then came 'Coffy', one of the best exploitation movies of the 1970s. Grier really shone in that movie, and along with 'Spiderbaby' it's arguably Hill's best film. 'Foxy Brown' comes across as a rather self-conscious attempt to recreate the success of 'Coffy', but sadly something is missing. Both movies follow a similar revenge formula, but there's less realism this time round. The opening credits are kitschy and fun, but it's very "hey, look at me, Pam Grier Superstar!", and the movie reflects this. 'Coffy' was great because it was the story of an "average" working class black woman who must find it within herself to do some extraordinary things. In 'Foxy Brown' things just come too easy for Grier's character, and she is much closer to Roundtree's John Shaft or even Tamara Dobson's Cleopatra Jones. I feel this movie loses a lot of what was unique and compelling about 'Coffy', and gets too close to just being a generic action flick. However Grier with Hill is still better than her subsequent movies in this genre like say 'Sheba, Baby' or 'Friday Foster', so I can't say it's a complete waste of time. Grier is sexy and charismatic throughout, and still one of the best exploitation stars of the mid-70s. Grier really dominates 'Foxy Brown' but the much-loved Antonio Fargas ('Shaft', 'Cleopatra Jones', but best known as Huggy Bear on TV's 'Starsky And Hutch') plays her shifty coke-dealing brother, Katheryn Loder (who some might remember from Hill's earlier 'The Big Doll House') is great as a sadistic Madame, and Sid Haig has a nice bit as a horny pilot. I wish the supporting cast had more chances to shine, and that Grier's character had a bit more depth, but it was not to be. This was Jack Hill's last movie with Pam Grier. He went on to make the marvelous 'Switchblade Sisters', she went on to a very uneven career until Tarantino's excellent 'Jackie Brown', possibly her best role to date. I really wish Jack Hill would make movies again, and I'd love to see him team up once more with Pam Grier and Sid Haig, because I think they have some unfinished business and the results could really be something special.

In 1973, the film "Coffy" made Pam Grier a star, a permanent icon of the blaxploitation films of the era, and a symbol of female empowerment in the face of racial tension. She also kicked a whole lot of tail. Writer and director of "Coffy", Jack Hill, had finished a script for a sequel when the studio decided at the last minute that it didn't want to film a sequel to "Coffy." Re-working his script, Hill gave birth to what could arguably the seminal female blaxploitation film: "Foxy Brown." Foxy Brown (Pam Grier) is a strong woman striving for a better world. While she attempts to help her drug-dealing brother Link (Antonio Fargas) change his ways, she waits for her federal cop boyfriend Dalton (Terry Carter) to recover from plastic surgery designed to hide him from the drug lords he informed on. Renaming himself Michael, he plans to run away with Foxy to a new life. All of his plans crumble, however, when Link discovers Michael's true identity, and informs on him for a hefty sum to the devious Miss Katherine (Katheryn Loder) and the suave Stve Elias (Peter Brown). When Katherine's goons kill Michael in Foxy's house, Foxy swears revenge. She infiltrates a call girl ring run by Katherine in an attempt to bring the crime lord down in the name of vengeance. Hill has created an iconic character in Foxy Brown, a character who has been copied and referenced to varying degrees of success since her inception (most shamefully in Beyonce Knowles' character of Foxy Cleopatra in "Austin Powers in Goldmember"). It's not difficult to see why. As embodied by Grier, Foxy is the ultimate female: beautiful, sexy, intelligent, and undeniably fierce. Grier is such a pleasure to watch on screen that you sometimes forget about the lack of support she has around her or the simplistic morals of the story. Loder's Miss Katherine Wall is a villainess of operatic proportions, filled with delightful malice and sadistic impulse. Brown's Steve is just as good, every inch the handsome mid-70s man. Fargas is also memorable as the weasely and cowardly Link, but outside of these three, the supporting players are only adequate. While Junita Brown's doomed call girl has her moments, the rest of the supporting cast is fairly flat, with line readings not having the right amount of emotion (either too much or too little) and often hitting just off-key of the psychological and emotional core that they need to strike. While Hill's script taps deep into the racial biases of the 70s, and is filled with the appropriate amount of slang and tension, his characters are often moral absolutes with little in shades of grey or complex motivations. Often, this exists on a similar plane to race: with the exception of Dalton/Michael's fellow agents, every white person in the film is shown as uncaring at best, evil of the highest order at worst. By the same token, with the exception of Link and a fellow dope dealer, the black characters are heroic and upright. In the context of the film, the conceit is appropriate, but it can lead to some viewers being upset or failing to take into account the politics of the time that would lead to such a depiction and dismissing the film out of hand. Despite these flaws, "Foxy Brown" is definitely a film to watch not just for historical value, but for the remarkable performance of Pam Grier, an actress just as strong and beautiful today as she was in 1974. Whenever she's on the screen, you immediately forget about any imperfections in the movie. As the theme song says, she is "superbad." And that's good. 7 out of 10.