Cool Breeze (film)

Plot

Sidney Lord Jones is a convicted felon who is granted an early release by the parole board in San Quentin. While imprisoned, he learns about the underworld diamond trade from reading and studying trade magazines. It motivates him to plan a heist to steal $3 million worth of diamonds from the largest diamond brokerage on the Pacific Coast.

After his release, Jones returns to Los Angeles and proposes the idea to ‘the Money Man’ Bill Mercer and "Stretch" Finian, in hopes that Mercer would provide the $50,000 seed money needed to set up the heist. Jones recommends using profits from the heist to start a community bank to support black-owned businesses, in addition the bank could be used to launder illegal business activities. Unbeknownst to Jones, Mercer is having financial difficulty and has little money. However, he agrees to provide the funds, but secretly plans to keep all the loot for himself. To accomplish the heist, Mercer and Jones assemble a group of men consisting of Travis Battle (‘the Muscle Man’) a well-known career criminal, Roy Harris (‘the Box Man’) an expert safe-cracker transformed into a Christian minister, and John Battle (‘the Driver’) an honest business man and half-brother of Travis. Unfortunately, after the successful robbery, the group finds themselves caught up in a string of unhappy accidents and double crosses.

Gender/sexuality in the film

Gender and sexuality in the film have been highly critiqued by film critiques who noted the characters mistreatment of women. The director of the film very intentionally portrays the young women as sexy but lacking complexity. This is a common theme that can be noted in many black films in which "the sexual dimension of American racism is reflected in the motion picture portrayal of the black woman" as is stated by Edward Mapp in Black Women in Films (142).

Critics such as Roger Greenspun note that "Cool Breeze has rather a lot to say about sexy young girls, and about sex generally (much of it fairly brutal), and about whatever matters of practical philosophy happen to pass through the minds of its characters" (New York Times 1972).

Reviews and reception

The film received very poor reviews overall. Critics reported that the characters were dry and lack dimension and the climax ended with a plot that seemed to lose its momentum. Much of the issues that were introduced in the beginning of the film were left unresolved by the end. Critics note that the film had a talented cast however the plot and character development was lacking. Though this is true, there were a few good scenes that were noted by film reviewers.

New York Times

The NYTimes noted that the film had a very poor depiction of blackness as well. The reviewers wrote, "Actually, the quality of blackness is somewhat strained, embracing as it does much of the cast, and most of the attitudes, and virtually all the ad campaign— but none of the major technical credits, including Gene Corman as producer and Barry Pollack, who directed and wrote the screenplay."

They cite that the film struggles to take its viewers on a journey with a very clear starting and ending point. The film is lacking in incorporating a clear stance or black power or pacifism which is ironic when compared to the director and screenwriters choice of genre. The film waned and lulls as the cast goes from being incredibly dramatic to almost apathetic. They note that "The cast is only good in its sadness, and especially with Raymond St Jacques as Mercer, the high-powered fence (the Louis Calhern role in "The Asphalt Jungle") who loses everything except an understanding that the best use of the substance of life is to support a style."

Cast