646f9e108c Charles Bronson plays Jack Murphy a veteran police detective who is framed for the murder of his ex-wife. Although taken into custody, Murphy escapes from the police station handcuffed to a foul-mouthed car thief. Pursued by the police, Murphy must find the real killer before it is too late. Jack Murphy is a tough, antisocial cop. Things are not good for him right now; he just killed the brother of a mobster, and is now marked for death. His wife left him and is now an exotic dancer, and is trying to get her to come back to him and when she shuns him, he drowns his sorrows in the bottle. And if that isn't enough, it seems like someone is stalking him but before going after him, this person wants to torment him first. And what this person does is kill his wife and frame him. Murphy would be arrested and is handcuffed to a young street kid, whom he arrested earlier. They escape and Murphy tries to find out who did this to him. Life has been pretty tough on Jack Murphy(Charles Bronson), a cop whose ex-wife left him for the owner of a strip club(she dances there!)and has become a victim of a female psychopath(Carrie Snodgress), recently paroled after being put away by him for ten years after shooting her boyfriend. When we first are introduced to Murphy, his car is being stolen by a thief, Arabella(Kathleen Wilhoite), a disrespectful young woman with an abusive mouth and bad manners. Then we recognize that he's a boozer after his wife left him. Murphy has to kill a pimp when this nutcase goes berserk shooting people at an airport..this pimp had murdered one of his prostitutes and is the brother of a mafioso named Frank Vincenzo(Richard Romanus)who vows to get revenge on Murphy. When Murphy is set up for the murder of his ex-wife and her lover by Freeman he must go on the lam, escaping lock up with Arabella in tow(they are handcuffed and he was responsible for finally finding and arresting her). When Freeman kills Murphy's former partner, Jack is again considered the one responsible. Then Freeman kills a judge and prosecutor and when Murphy finds out through his partner, Art(Robert F Lyons), that she is the one he helped send to prison, all the murders become perfectly clear..Freeman is taking out everyone who put her in prison. With Bill Henderson, on crutches(because of his being shot in the back by a 16 year old teenager), as Ben Wilcover, Murphy's partner, and Angel Tompkins as Jan, Jack's ex-wife who has a strip tease at one point in the movie. Lawrence Tierney has a cameo as a private investigator who gets Freeman the names and addresses of those associated with her imprisonment suffering a rather unpleasant fate when he insists on payment for extra expenses. One of several collaborations between Bronson and director J Lee Thompson. Meanspirited and violent, MURPHY'S LAW gets its laughs come from the unlikely partnership of Murphy and Arabella who become friendly as they attempt to evade law enforcement, while trying to clear Jack's name. The ending has Snodgress, as you've never seen her before, equipped with a crossbow(having kidnapped Arabella right from under Murphy's nose), and Vincenzo, with his gangster thugs, both aiming to kill Murphy in the old Bradbury building. Many might get a kick out of Wilhoite's smart aleck mouth as she spouts foul gibberish such as "Eat boogers", "Watch out snot-rag", and "penis envy" towards those who get on her bad side. This movie certainly stacks the deck against poor Murphy who has his share of difficulties thanks to Snodgress. Murphys Law is a tight, action packed, psychological adventure, thriller. There, I said it. It's one of his better vehicles. I love adventure thrillers like this, and it's revenge theme is a bonus. Settling an old score, psycho killer (Snodgress), who's escaped from the looney bun, sets up Bronson good, only having him escape, handcuffed to a reluctant foul mouthed prisoner (the great versatile character actress, Kathleen Wilhoitte) where they escape in a helicopter off the top off the police building then crash into a barn, occupied by druggie bikers. I'll just let you see how Bronson handles this one. Wilhoitte's insults deserves recognition for their originality. Soon the two become pals, where she assists him in tracking down the SOB responsible for killing his wife, then framing him. One suspect, a gangster, who Bronson cautions, with his own brand of Murphy's Law, after he made threats towards him, is literally caught with his pants down down. If you love watching Bronson do what he does best, just add this better title to the list. Murphy, a bit of a boozer too, doesn't like other cops insulting his wife either.
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