Foxy Brown

Pamela Grier is in classic form in 1974's FOXY BROWN, enough so to make up for such a hit and miss affair.  Co-writer/director Jack Hill's film is considered a gold standard among the blaxploitation genre, and its influence is still be to be found in films and TV programs with a strong African American heroine.  Quentin Tarantino championed the picture and was inspired by it to create JACKIE BROWN over twenty years later, with Ms. Grier in the title role.  No one can argue that the actress had an impressive stature and presence, and that she was a trailblazer for black actresses, even if many of these films were "junk" as she described them in an interview.

FOXY BROWN is junk, let's face it.  Grim and dark and with plenty of the requisite sleaze and vulgarity that grindhouse audiences craved.  All the tropes of '70s exploitation are present: bloody violence, revenge plot, rape, stereotypes, racial slurs, topless women, unintentional laughs.  There are a few penis jokes, though one will prove quite horrifying.  "Whitey" is given his just desserts, most satisfactorily I must say.  I have to wonder if gay viewers look the other way though when Foxy calls someone a "faggot", or beats the hell out of several women in a lesbian bar.  I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the implications of such a scene in this context.

The plot follows Foxy as she goes after the drug ring that killed her Federal Agent boyfriend, a guy who just underwent cosmetic surgery and changed his identity after his attempted infiltration of said ring failed.  He'd taught her how to use a gun, and she gets to pop off more than a few rounds.  But as much of an in control badass as Foxy may be, she still suffers a drugging and a rape at the hands of some sicko rednecks.  Thankfully, Hill spares us this scene.  But the revenge afterward gets front and center treatment.

Universities have done studies on this film genre.  Here, one can examine each scene and how it furthers/hinders women's empowerment.  Foxy gets to be sexy and maternal, going undercover as a high class prostitute (in a series of groovy fashions) and managing to humiliate the crooked judge she is supposed to entertain, meanwhile helping a fellow call girl escape this sordid life to boot.   For every degradation in FOXY BROWN, there is a follow bit of redemption.  Not for the white characters though, who are unanimously shown as abusers and killers, or at least corrupt and/or rather dim.

The militant black group Foxy eventually teams up with are also shown in a somewhat confusing light, as they go after black drug dealers and ship them to the police (mostly white).  Would a real Black Panther type brotherhood do this? Maybe the film's climax makes up for that.  Some interesting discussions of "justice" vs. "revenge" are to be heard.

After you've done your scholarly analysis, you always come back to the basics.  The cast is able.  Antonio Fargas is energetic as Foxy's pathetic junkie brother.  Sid Haig shows up late as a pilot and delivers lots of great lines (the entire film is full of 'em).  Kathryn Loder, as one of the chief bad guys exhibits very questionable thespian skills, but has a few effective moments as she sadly pines in vain for the other bad guy, Steve (Peter Brown).  Hill's direction has its moments, and his film is fast paced.  But his earlier collaboration with Grier, 1973's COFFY, did it all better.