The Nickel Ride

Plot

Working for a local crime boss, the "key-man" known as Cooper (Jason Miller) runs a set of warehouses in Los Angeles. Just as he is about to close a deal that will net them a whole block of L.A. turf, problems arise. As he continues to talk to the police and has a relationship with a young woman (Linda Haynes), Cooper's pals wonder if he is planning to reveal other things about their plans. Trouble is afoot.

Cast

Awards

Reception

Nora Sayre of The New York Times was not impressed:

The movie appears to be a drama of real estate. Jason Miller plays a neighborhood fixer who is attempting to lease a warehouse for the storage of stolen goods; however, the deal is delayed, and he's threatened by the minor hoods who are his clients. His role is a study in worry: the angst rarely leaves his deep-set lemur's eyes. We watch him worrying in profile, in full and three-quarter face, standing or sitting or lying down, in daylight and darkness, on the phone, in his office and out of doors. All in all, he seems more vulnerable to an anxiety attack than to an assailant's bullet. ...The Nickel Ride is handsomely filmed in bleak pastels, but the numerous close-ups manage to stress the slowness of the action, and quick cuts can't dispel the tedium.

Nick Pinkerton of The Village Voice was slightly more forgiving: "The Nickel Ride is a seldom-seen drama of white-collar workaday criminal drudgery to make you believe the best of '70s cinema will never fully be quarried out. ...The atmosphere is one of musty hallways, sour stomach, and looming late middle age with no retirement plan in sight."