Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (1976)

Written by: Fernando Di Leo, Alberto Marras, Vincenzo Salviani
Directed by: Ruggero Deodato
Starring: Marc Porel and Ray Lovelock
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
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“You're bad in my books. I'm not saying you're incompetent, but every time you're out on a job, you leave two or three bodies behind in bits and pieces.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

This slightly scummy but mostly silly cop-drama/actioner comes courtesy of Italian schlockmaster Ruggero Deodato (he of Cannibal Holocaust fame). Despite the lack of horror trappings, he doesn’t leave his penchant for violence behind as a pair of cops (Ray Lovelock and Marc Porel) blast and fuck their way through a mob boss’s empire. The two are referred to as Supermen, no doubt due to their ability to thwart criminal behavior at every turn, often in homicidal fashion. Showing little regard for lawful conventions and even less remorse, the two rack up an impressive body-count in a series of stylish action sequences. One features an impressive display of insane motorcycle stuntwork that was filmed without permission in the middle of Rome.

That rebellious streak carries itself all the way through the production, as there’s a sort of gleeful carelessness to the whole thing. Its heroes are reckless anarchists seemingly drawn to compulsive violence; they don’t seek justice so much as they seek satisfaction from violent triumphs. They treat everything as a sort of competitive game, and women are objects to be conquered (sometimes after being slapped around first). But the film basically shrugs its shoulders at these charismatic badasses--boys will be boys, I guess; this might be a quality that’s off-putting to some, but if you’ve tip-toed down the sticky floors of the grindhouse before, you’ll feel right at home.

The script is from another Italian film legend, Fernando di Leo, who wrote other films in this genre; this is not a great script in terms of cohesiveness and narrative intrigue--much of the film amounts to a bunch of action sequences loosely connected by gobs of exposition. But it’s got guns and girls, and its final shot is a reminder that you should always blow something up if you’ve got the resources, even if it’s just a really shoddy model of a boat.

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