ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

MartinHafer While this movie is set mostly in the Black neighborhoods of Philadelphia, many of the Whites are quite prejudiced and many of the actors are Black, this really isn't a blaxploitation film--though Netflix has categorized it that way on its web site. Instead, it's like a more modern version of THE STING with a multiracial cast.Mel Stewart ("Henry Jefferson" from ALL IN THE FAMILY) and Kiel Martin star as con-men who swindle the wrong man. The old guy they cheat out of $10,000 suffers a fatal heart attack when he realizes he was swindled AND he's the uncle of a mob boss--who now has ordered the deaths of these cons. However, unlike THE STING, there is some rough language, nudity and a very, very downbeat ending. I enjoyed the film and appreciated seeing these two lesser name actors getting a chance to play leads, but hate seeing it branded with the label "blaxploitation" because many take this to mean that the film is cheap and formulaic--which it certainly isn't. Hardly a great film, it is still well worth a look for an interesting story.

pparasxoudis82 It's a movie about two grifters one black/ one white trying to score big in the '70s around Philadelphia. It has one of the best depiction of male bonding(don't think dirty!!!). One of the best buddy movies ever made. Think Lethal Weapon made on the other side of the law with much less explosions and definitely more subtle. Even better than 48 hours. This movie was made a decade two early.When movies like Night Moves (1975) by Arthur Penn , The Long Goodbye (1973) and Straight Time (1978)by Ulu Grosbard and Dustin Hoffman were made in the '70s not that many people show them. Now that they are rediscovered people claim that they are small masterpieces. The truth is that they were made within the studio system(funded by them) and for even that decade they didn't seem to find an audience(Straight Time did make some money - according to IMDb - but comparing it with the success that other Hoffman's movies had in the seventies it is a modest one financially speaking). In each one of those three movies there was a big star: Gene Hackman, Elliot Gould and off course Dustin Hoffman.Trick Baby was also made by a big studio Universal. But it seemed destined to be a blaxploitation movie. Instead the director gave them something much more. It wasn't just a movie for black audience like Shaft , Black Caesar or any Pam Grier movie. I'm not saying that these movies were only seen by African Americans. Just that the intention of the studio was to make as much money as they could from that untapped market when they show the success of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) (how much money could be made with such a small investment). But when a movie like this came along they couldn't understand it. It didn't have a strong male lead like Melvin Van Peebles ,Fred Williamson or a sexy one like Pam Grier.******* Minor SPOILERS !!!!!!! ********************Instead they got a black middle aged bald man (with no sex appeal at all - just watch the sex scene and you'll understand) and a white dude(!!). Even more the character played by the white man was supposed to be mixed raced. Half black, half white!!! ******* ********************So you had a movie with two lead actors that none knew them (and their career since then was limited to one TV-Show for each one in the eighties), a movie with no clear message ( it didn't have the bald statements that movies like Sweet... and Shaft had ), it took place mainly in the black neighborhoods of Philadelphia and basically a movie about two hustlers trying to score big. No wonder that no one show this film. But what bothers me particularly is that no major critic had step up and spoke about this film!!! It is not just about the life of grifters. It isn't just a House of Games set in the '70s.(not that the Mamet film isn't close to a masterpiece)Larry Yust gave us a movie about the elusive American Dream. About the racial tensions of the seventies and what it is to be black. The contempt that white people(especially the upper class)had for the African Americans. The willingness that white people had to exploit everyone else just along as nobody caught them red handed. And most of all is about the black identity issue. What it was for an African American to be growing up and living in a country that didn't felt like they belong to. Trying to make ends meet even by coning someone else. If it was a white dude's money even better. But we also see the relationships withing the black community and how they relate to the whites and people of mixed racial backgrounds. Personally I think that this movie has one of the most interesting descriptions of racial relationships in the '70s. Even the best films of that golden era couldn't compare with the depiction found in this film. And most of all with such a subtle way!!!! Don't be fooled about my ranting. People are being scammed and shot. This is a genre movie. A movie about criminals trying to make money. Just not the way that Hollywood has made us used to. No explosions, no unnecessary gunfire and car chases. Just the right amount.Finally what I'm trying to say is that this is a minor masterpiece of that era. It belongs up there with the movies mentioned above. People should see this movie. If you come across a DVD. Bye it immediately!! I just hope that more people will found about this film. It is kind of depressing that film scholars and critics are always finding out hidden gems(overlooked masterpieces) from earlier decades and so long no one has step up to write about this movie. It deserves to be rediscovered.Enjoy!

VincentElgar An interesting, extremely well-performed little movie about a pair of Philadelphia con artists who get more than they bargain for when they cross swords with a corrupt cop and the local Mafiosi.Trick Baby begins well and builds up midway to a terrific foot-chase through the seamier side of the city. In the second half it starts to run out of steam and becomes a little predictable. Things are bogged down especially by a lengthy scene involving a preacher, who is the only character that strikes a false note. In spite of this the movie never loses one's attention completely. The cast down to the supporting players is excellent: Beverly Ballard particularly shines as a woman used and abused by slick operator White Folks (Kiel Martin) and Dallas Edward Hayes does terrific work as the ruthless and relentless cop.The use of locations is terrific, and the movie has a rawness and immediacy utterly missing from thrillers today. Minor reservations aside, Trick Baby is well worth a look – 8/10.

manuel-pestalozzi Frankly, this film bowled me over. Do not think of blaxploitation but of one of David Mamet's better movies or Federico Fellini's "Il Bidone". It is perfect in every sense of the word. A good, concise story, thrilling from the first second to the tragic ending, unforgettable dialogue, artful location shooting in Philadelphia, interesting editing, fabulous performances by largely unknown actors and a character that should enter the annals of great screen heroes: The hustler and compulsive liar Blue Howard, brilliantly played by Mel Stewart (actors got Oscar nominated for less).Trick Baby starts with a beautifully minimalistic setting - a stage really for a con trick: In a dreary hotel room that has seen better days, Blue, an elderly African American, prepares the setting (screwing off light bulbs, distributing full ash trays). Then he receives his young partner White Folks ("he ain't white, he just looks it", insists Blue) who accompanies an old white man. Blue plays the part of a hard pressured hustler who has some stones to sell, White Folks the part of the tough guy representing a possible buyer, keeping the price low by menacing behaviour. The old white man falls for it and buys the stones - actually junk - for 10000 dollars.Luck begins to change soon after that, and Blue and White Folks have to use their talents to keep alive. This does not prevent them from pulling a few con tricks in between. It is convincingly shown that they are actually addicted to it and instinctively spot a good opportunity every other minute. Lying by telling stories that are untrue is presented as an art form and as a strategy to get some meaning out of life. This is done in a moving way and less sarcastically than Mamet usually does. Blue does not hesitate to tell a preacher spontaneously an elaborate story about a fugitive from Down South he has to rescue in order to get the preacher's help - and you can observe how the desparate Blue draws life force from his very telling this lie (you need a lot of acting talent to convey this).Although Blue and White Folks operate as a pair, Blue is the main character of Trick Baby. He is the leader of the team. He shows fatherly feelings towards his young partner who Blues claims is the son of a black mother. Blue feels responsible for White Folks when things turn ugly. It is Blue who tries to rescue White Folks who got wounded. He cons himself into an optimistic mood up to the tragic end of the movie and does not give up until his heart stops beating - which makes Blue Howard a hero in a twisted sort of way.