A DeLuise Ball of Comic Proportions

HOT STUFF (1979)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Hot Stuff" is the Stoked-Mary-Jane cop comedy of the 70's, a hazily measured feeling of stoned hijinks in the tradition of Cheech and Chong, not terribly long after the famed stoned pair did their debut in "Up in Smoke." Aside from C&C, "Hot Stuff" also reminded me of 1973's funny and leisurely paced "Cops and Robbers" (incidentally, both films were scripted by crime novelist Donald E. Westlake). Yet it is that stoked feeling and the film's leisurely pace (compared to the rip-roaring, fast-paced screwball comedies of the 30's and 40's) that lends it intimacy and overall good-naturedness.

Good-naturedness is at the core of "Hot Stuff," Dom DeLuise's directorial debut. Ostensibly based on a true story (sort of), this is about Miami undercover cops who feel their arrests of thieves are fruitless. As soon as the criminals are facing court and a public defender, they are back on the streets doing the exact same thing (my, how times have changed since 1979). Four cops (Dom DeLuise, Jerry Reed, Luis Avalos and a new officer winningly played by Suzanne Pleshette), decide to take over a junk shop, pay top dollar for items sold, film the thieves who try to sell stolen items thru a mirror and eventually entrap them in a big party where the cops can arrest them all. Items sold include everything from stereos to Cuban cigars to snakes to that drug that induces a leisurely paced, laid-back mentality, marijuana.

"Hot Stuff" is chock full of weak stereotypes (the Mafia Don played by Marc Lawrence, a walking underworld type for the millionth time, and his minions), cliches you see coming from miles (car chases and one or two explosions) and a final party scene that is not entirely necessary (it goes on way too long, too). What sets this comedy apart from others is the upbeat tone - DeLuise turns it into a party of good feelings without ever becoming too raucous. The cops need to make it fun for themselves in this rather dull-looking junk shop (and we do get obligatory music interludes before they became obligatory in the 1980's) and you can tell DeLuise, Reed, Avalos (who has some great double-takes) and Pleshette are having a ball. Particularly sidesplitting is DeLuise getting high after a couple of tokes - his laughter is contagious.

One dramatic scene stands out in "Hot Stuff." A young kid attempts to sell his dog because he and his mother need money. The cops take the dog and give him the money and DeLuise can't help but feel emotional. You will too. There are no other scenes like it in the very fittingly funny, leisurely-paced "Hot Stuff" but it makes you wonder how many more scenes like that could've been shown. For a lazy Saturday afternoon where you have no Mary Jane available, "Hot Stuff" might do the trick.