Busting is a 1974 film directed by Peter Hyams, starring Elliott Gould and Robert Blake as Los Angeles police detectives. The film is episodic, depicting the two detectives teaming on several different cases, with varying degrees of success. The main focus of the movie centers on them trying to bust one main criminal, an LA crime king-pin named "Rizzo" . The film is extremely cynical, strongly implying that crime does pay and that the biggest criminals in society are corrupt politicians and businessmen who will never be punished for their crimes. The film ends with an unusual soundtrack... flash-forward. While we see Gould attempting to arrest a powerful figure who will ultimately walk free, we also hear something which hasn't happened yet: Gould's character quitting the police force and applying for a civilian job. Busting is similar to the movie Freebie and the Bean, although the latter was more comedic, and was actually delayed in release so as not to specifically compete with Busting. Busting did not do as well at the box office as the later Freebie and the Bean, arguably due to its harder, more cynical style / tone.
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| Release date: | February 27, 1974 |
| Directed by: | Peter Hyams |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 91 Minutes |
| Producer: | Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff |
| Editor: | James Mitchell |
| Music by: | Billy Goldenberg |
| Genre: | Comedy, Action |