A brief disclaimer: A Piece of the Action is a film that co-stars Bill Cosby, a notorious figure whose fall from grace has been well-documented. While I maintain the importance of separating the art from the artist in most instances, it is also vital that it is made clear that by covering this film, I do not condone Cosby’s actions, nor do I want to participate in any attempt to rehabilitate his image. He is mentioned briefly in the body of this review, exclusively in the context of the performance he delivers, and his work is judged exclusively in the context of this film.

Everyone deserves a second chance, but it also should not be given without having to pay some consequences. Many advocates for prison reform and criminal rehabilitation point out their belief that certain people do not benefit from being sent to prison, and instead should be allowed to give back to the community in more practical and meaningful ways, which is usually something that tends to be discussed when looking at petty criminals and those who don’t pose much danger beyond small-scale or white-collar crime. This is the impetus for A Piece of the Action, the fourth directorial outing of the brilliant Sidney Poitier, who works from a screenplay by Charles Blackwell, and tells the story of Manny and David, two career criminals who thrive in their respective fields – the first is a dedicated con man who has recently tricked some local gangsters into giving up their fortune, while the latter is a skills safe-cracker. Both men view their profession as more of a hobby, and as a result come quite complacent – and as we’ve seen, the first way to get caught by the authorities is to let your guard down, which is how they come into the crosshairs of Joshua Burke, a recently-retired detective who decides to use his knowledge of their crimes to give them an ultimatum: either spend two decades behind bars, or begin working for a local non-profit organisation, where they will be in charge of educating local juvenile delinquents and troubled youths, hopefully setting them on the right track. It’s a wonderfully endearing film that finds Poitier doing what he does best, taking a simple idea and turning it into a special work, a deft blend of outrageous comedy and soft-hearted pathos that is very much indicative of a specific era in American filmmaking, but one that we can look on fondly as being from a simpler time, one in which these more quietly complex examinations of culture and society were at their peak, something that was reflected in absolutely every decision Poitier made when putting this heartfelt and profoundly entertaining film together.

Many ideas move through A Piece of the Action, and it takes a short while for us to actually understand exactly where this film is heading, since even with the knowledge of the overall premise, there are some smaller details that only emerge in the process of working our way through the film. However, it does become clear what the film is covering as far as thematic territory – this is a story of two criminals who are allowed to atone for their indiscretions, which is done through uplifting the community rather than just being put away, where they will undoubtedly spend decades simmering in regrets more than actually daring to learn from their mistakes. It’s an interesting subject, and one that is worth discussing, even beyond the confines of this film. Poitier was someone who infused absolutely every piece of work he did (whether as an actor or director) with a clear social awareness, so it seemed likely that he would be drawn to the opportunity to make a film that centred around two individuals who spent their lives becoming rich through crime, being forced to show contrition through giving back to the community. The 1970s were a challenging time for America, especially in relation to the ongoing Civil Rights Movement, which may have made considerable strides in this decade, but was still actively fighting institutionalised bias and structural oppression, which had an impact on entire communities. Despite all this heavy material, A Piece of the Action still manages to be a comedy, which is where so much of the brilliance resides – this is a very simple story about changing one’s ways and using the opportunity to not only seek forgiveness, but make the world a better place in the process. On the surface, it seems like a relatively conventional fish-out-of-water tale of career criminals suddenly being given positions of authority, tasked with influencing the future generation to become moral, upstanding citizens. It’s relatively conventional as far as its core themes go, but it has so much nuance in the way it tackles these ideas that we can truly appreciate its vision beyond simply being yet another example of socially-conscious filmmaking.

It is truly impossible to deny that Poitier was one of the most magnetic screen presences of his generation, the rare combination of an actor who was capable of commanding the screen as a traditional leading man while also being willing to pursue more complex characters when they were made available to him. There are many who argue that his decision to step into directing was done in an effort to diversify the kinds of roles that he was playing, since, despite being cinema royalty at the time, there were sadly not many opportunities for non-white characters in a lot of mainstream films. A Piece of the Action contains some of Poitier’s most interesting work, since he can set aside his usual persona of being a straight-laced, moral man and instead play someone with many more layers, where the focus isn’t on how he is always making the ethical decision, but instead torn between doing what is right and what is easy. Considering it was also a comedy, Poitier goes out of his way to show off his versatility – he was certainly not unskilled when it came to humour, but this film did give him the chance to loosen up slightly, playing someone who is morally much more elastic, and allowing him to run the gamut more than ever before. He’s absolutely terrific, and his interactions with many of the other characters – most of whom were young actors that were either newcomers or novices – give the film so much texture. The film co-stars Bill Cosby, who is actually playing against type, taking on the more serious of the two leads in what is his third on-screen pairing with Poitier, with whom he did some very strong work at the time. The standout of the supporting cast is a very young Sheryl Lee Ralph, playing a young woman in Poitier’s class – and considering she has recently had a major revival in popularity as a result of her work in Abbott Elementary, another film about the trials and tribulations of the American education system, it proves to be a wonderful, full-circle moment. It’s a terrific cast that brings the right amount of nuance to challenging characters, developing A Piece of the Action into something much more nuanced than we may expect based on a cursory glance.

A Piece of the Action is a very simple film, but it’s in this straightforward, unfurnished approach that makes it so engaging. When choosing the tone, Poitier had to make a very strong decision, since this premise could lend itself to either outrageous comedy or more complex social realist drama – but rather than going in one direction or the other, he decides to blend them both, making this one of his most ambitious efforts, not in terms of genre (since that would likely be his wonderful debut, Buck and the Preacher), but in regards to how he balances tone and structure. The best way to describe this film is to highlight the very famous year he had about a decade before, where three of his most well-loved films all premiered, an event that essentially solidified Poitier as arguably the most important leading man of his generation. Somehow, this film functions as an amalgamation of all of them, both conceptually and tonally – it has the sweet-natured, socially-conscious humour of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, the deft thrills of In the Heat of the Night and the soft-hearted examination of teacher-student relationships that defined To Sir…with Love, all of which seem to be heavily influential in the construction of this film. A Piece of the Action is certainly the kind of film that doesn’t present itself as particularly innovative, but instead tackles a range of complex ideas through a very familiar kind of storytelling, one that may be quite conventional but is not without its merits. The brilliance of this film is not in how it avoids being heavy-handed, but rather in how it balances the more intense emotional content, of which there is certainly no shortage, with the more lighthearted elements, creating a blend of tones that contribute to what becomes a vivid tapestry of a film, a series of episodic moments in the lives of these characters as they navigate certain challenges. It is often quite derivative if we look at it from a distance, but Poitier compensates for these shortcomings by creating a film that is vibrant, complex and engaging, slowly unravelling the film into more than just a quirky comedy about ordinary people, and instead elevating it to become far more enthralling based on his ability to hold our attention in every moment.

While he is mostly remembered as arguably the most charismatic screen actor of his generation, and the very definition of cinematic icon, Poitier’s status as a solid filmmaker is not often discussed, especially since his acting work often eclipses it in many ways. However, with A Piece of the Action, he proves that he had the mettle to be a brilliant filmmaker in his own right, truly coming into his own as a director in a way that suggests that he was more skillful than many were willing to acknowledge at the time. It seems that most have started to come around to the idea of this being the strongest of his directorial endeavours, which is not a controversial opinion – it’s not only his most cohesive and meaningful film, but it shows much more skill and nuance, and it seems like Poitier is truly in his element as a director throughout the film, being mostly at ease with the material, but also not resting on his laurels and choosing to pursue more complex ideas in the process. It’s a very charming film, but one that does take its time to reach a specific point of discussion, which is justified by the fact that Poitier was less motivated by the destination so much as he was by the journey, which proves to be far more interesting and worthwhile on both a structural and conceptual level. It’s not his best performance (although he’s wonderful), but there is an argument to be made that A Piece of the Action is his best directorial outing – it is certainly his most self-assured and interesting, and despite being formally quite straightforward, it has a quiet complexity that lingers beneath the surface, informing many of the film’s more bespoke qualities, and ultimately making A Piece of the Action a far more compelling film than we would’ve expected based on a cursory glance, and proving that it has aged exceptionally well, far beyond anything that we usually associate with this particular brand of social realism, only proving Poitier’s mettle as not only an incredible actor, but also a brilliant filmmaker in his own right.