The Stick Up (1977) User Reviews

A Cut-Price Comedy Bonnie & Clyde

[MogwaiMovieReviews · 5/10 · 13 November 2019]

It's always intriguing to find an old movie no-one's here's reviewed before. Sometimes they turn out to be buried treasure: this one turns out to be yet another shoddy-looking British production from the 1970s with a fish-out-of-water American lead.

David Soul was always too broad for anything but TV, but he's likeable enough here and the rest of the cast add local colour and charm. It's cheaply shot but the rural locations are quaint and atmospheric.

The Stick-Up aims to be a cut-price comedy Bonnie & Clyde - or perhaps Paper Moon - and succeeds in creating at least a few agreeable moments in a mildly Withnail-like setting.

The love of a bonny lass will set you free!

[BloodTheTelepathicDog · 7/10 · 11 December 2022]

Remembered foremost for his television work on the buddy cop series STARSKY & HUTCH, David Soul stars in an altogether different odd couple story in THE STICK UP. Soul plays a displaced American in England who has an armored car job all lined up with three Brits, but along the way he gets attached to a diner waitress running away from a dead-end situation, played by Pamela McMyler. Whereas Soul butted heads often as Hutch with his pal Starsky, his relationship with McMyler's Rosie is a bit more contentious. Neither one is honest and forthright, but together their deficiencies might erode and a positive union could be the end result.

STORY ($$$): The script doesn't really offer anything new, for it's the standard romantic-comedy with crime mixed in. Soul's Duke must decide whether the love of Rosie is more valuable to him than the riches transported in the armored car he's determined to rob. There are some nice comedic elements in the story, with the banter between Soul and McMyler typically entertaining.

ACTING ($$$$): STARSKY & HUTCH began as a quality buddy cop series, but as the show evolved, it went cheeseball and the stories were low-rent. I always got the impression that Soul didn't like the direction the series went, and his acting in the later episodes suffered for it. In THE STICK UP, however, David shines, giving a brilliant, standout performance as a man determined to make it, albeit in an underhanded manner. His attitude changes as he begins to realize the attachment he has with Rosie is something akin to connubial. Pamela McMyler is an absolute treat as Rosie, who can be a frank Irish spitfire one minute and a meek damsel the next. She gets plenty material to shine in the script, from pasting a meddlesome child with mashed potatoes to her outrageous mud wrestling scene with a woman twice her size. The fear and trepidation Pamela expresses upon meeting the Amazon will make you laugh, but you'll be left in stitches when she looses her spitfire in the ring, scratching and pulling her opponent's hair!

SEX/NUDITY ($): There's a bathing in the river scene after the mud wrestling exposition with Soul & McMyler denuding, but it's tasteful and certainly not gratuitous.

The Stick Up - Fun Ride

[krocheav · 7/10 · 12 February 2024]

Interesting second feature from Jeffery Bloom following his highly original (and better) "Dogpound Shuffle" ('75). Bloom attempted to bring something fresh and different to his earlier films but was limited in budgets to achieve full effectiveness, still, they are quite pleasing to watch and do feature a fine sense of wry humour. This one is not as polished as 'Dogpound Shuffle' but the participation of some interesting British bit players holds interest while it winds its way to an odd ending.

Multi-Award winner Michel J Lewis (Baxter '73) provides a jaunty music score, along with some creative visual touches from director of photography Michael Reed (On Her Majesties Secret Service '69). The director's wife, Pamela McMyler (marvelous in Dogpound Shuffle) is effective as the love interest of the reliable (and underestimated) David Soul.

David (who we sadly lost this year) also supplies a couple of interesting songs along with the director. Good fun for those who enjoy humour with a leaning towards a British flavour, while nicely written by an American.