Anthony's Film Review - Foxy Brown (1974)

Even though there's some action, the movie is just OK in my opinion...

Pam Grier was truly a star in the 1973 blaxploitation movie Coffy, so it's natural for her to star in another movie along the same lines. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how the new movie is executed. For me, watching the 1974 movie Foxy Brown felt like the latter. Now, I'm not trying to being harsh. All I'm saying is that Foxy Brown really felt like a rehash, or a near virtual repeat, of Coffy. I'll tell you why in just a moment. Let me first summarize the plot premise.

Foxy Brown is a woman whose boyfriend, an undercover cop seeking to take down drug kingpins, was murdered. She also has a brother named Link who has gotten himself into the drug trade. Driven by a thirst for revenge, Foxy gets closer to the people at the top of the drug ring by posing as a prostitute and joining its harem of call girls. As you might expect, things get complicated, and Foxy finds herself in a perilous situation or two. But she is strong. She's not giving up until she exacts vengeance on those who deserve it.

If any of this sounds familiar, it should. Coffy has pretty much this same premise. In fact, the only real difference between the characters of Coffy and Foxy Brown is the name. When I was watching Foxy Brown, I could not help but notice how Pam Grier acts and talks the same way as she did in Coffy. For most of the film, I wondered if I was watching the same movie twice. Of course, I did enjoy Coffy, so you might think that I would enjoy Foxy Brown just as much. Well, not exactly.

Aside from the main character, there's also the story. Whereas the movie Coffy delivers plenty of good action and plot twists, the movie Foxy Brown has only some decent action and essentially no surprises that are thrown our way. The end result is a movie that moves along but mostly with little adrenaline and excitement. For some, this could mean a boring movie. For me, it wasn't boring, so I'm not giving this movie a negative rating. At the same time, it's just not as engrossing as Coffy.

It is said that Foxy Brown was originally conceived as a sequel to Coffy. If that's true, then that would explain the similarities between the two movies. They could've decided from the start that Foxy Brown would be a new original movie with a new character and plot premise. Maybe that would've made the viewing experience a little more fresh for me. Even so, the movie Foxy Brown as it stands doesn't live up to Coffy. It's not mediocre, but it's pretty standard.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Foxy Brown, visit the Internet Movie Database.