moonspinner55 Review of C.C. & Company

C.C. & Company (1970)

"If you guys wanna watch this freak show, man, that is your hang-up--not mine!"

[4/10 · 25 October 2017]

In only his second feature as an actor, NY Jets quarterback Joe Namath had already developed an easy screen presence with a combination of aw-shucks smiles and mild, almost polite line-readings--which, ultimately, causes him to seem out of place here as a member of a motorcycle gang who make their home in the Arizona desert. After rescuing fashion magazine journalist Ann-Margret from being molested by two of his mangy compadres, Namath gets on the wrong side of psychotic gang leader William Smith (strutting around like a prize rooster). But Namath is too decent and well-mannered to be involved with these goons in the first place. He isn't above making love in the dirt with one of the broads from the gang--and, in the amusing opening sequence, he helps himself to a sandwich in the aisles of a supermarket--but "bad company" Namath is not. Tacky, noisy wheeler wants to please its core audience, which is to say it wants to be all things to degenerates of all types. Written and co-produced by Ann-Margret's husband-manager, Roger Smith, the movie was intended to show off the star to a new generation after a period of decline but, miscast or not, it's Namath's picture. He's a good guy even when he's hanging out with the bad guys. *1/2 from ****