Pam Grier looks desirable and gives a playful, likable performance as Friday Foster, another one of her patented liberated and resourseful heroines, but she leaves most of the physical stuff to her male co-star, Yaphet Kotto, this time around. These two make a great pair and it's a mystery why they didn't work together more often. The rest of the cast is solid as well, right down to the boy who plays Pam's little brother, who has some very funny line readings. The film itself is not among Pam's most exciting: the story is muddled, and some promising action sequences (like a car chase....in which she drives a hearse!) fall flat (kudos to the stuntmen jumping from rooftop to rooftop, though). But the well-chosen cast, the bright colors, and the funky dialogue & score keep it fun enough. (**)

Pam Grier is back in action in the big screen adaptation of 'Friday Foster'. Friday Foster debuted in January 1970 as the first comic strip to star a black woman. It was syndicated and featured soap operatic story lines drawn in a realistic style, similar to Mary Worth, and starred an ex- model turned photojournalist somewhat like Diahann Carol.I think a lot of blaxploitation fans have a hard time getting their heads around this movie because it's a different role for Pam Grier than the gritty asskicker she played so well in movies like Coffy. Nonetheless, this film gives Pam an opportunity to show range as an actress. I think Pam Grier is one of the most beautiful actresses in the history of film with real star charisma. It's good to see her getting credit.Although it has the elements of classic blaxploitation - car chases, shootouts - Friday Foster is fun, light hearted comic strip of a film. Definitely see it.

Friday Foster (Pam Grier) is a magazine photographer who is given the assignment of covering the airport arrival of the richest black man in America. But Friday gets more than she bargained for as this routine assignment turns into an assassination attempt. Because Friday was able to get some shots of the would be killers, her life is in danger. Soon, everywhere she goes, people end up dead. Friday's investigations lead her to corrupt government officials, a renowned preacher with an eye for more than the Bible, and something called The Black Widow.Friday Foster is literally a Who's Who of 70s black actors. In addition to the always delightful Pam Grier, the movie features Yaphet Kotto, Eartha Kitt, Scatman Crothers, Carl Weathers, Ted Lange, Godfrey Cambridge, Thalmus Rasulala (what an awesome name), and more. While many members of this large cast have little more than cameo appearances, it was a fun to see them all together. I especially enjoyed seeing Kotto work with Grier. I wish the pair had made more films together. They have a good on screen chemistry. Plus, regardless of how silly the situation, Kotto brings an air of credibility to the proceedings.Unlike some of Grier's other films, Friday Foster has a decided lighthearted tone in comparison. That's not to say there aren't plenty of killings, but it never feels as depressing, downbeat, or serious as something like Coffy. It's a nice change of pace to see Grier laughing and joking with Kotto in many of the film's scenes. The action scenes are also good. One of my personal favorites is the rooftop chase with Kotto and Weathers. Very nice.I'm a fan of 70s Blaxplotation (and Pam Grier in particular) and Friday Foster is a welcome addition to my video library.

Jack Hill's brilliant 'Coffy' is one of the 1970s best exploitation movies and remains the definitive Pam Grier role. It's such a pity that within two years Grier was forced into making something as mediocre as 'Friday Foster'. It's no wonder he career quickly went down the toilet after lame movies like this and 'Sheba, Baby'! 'Coffy' is a classic revenge movie and actually had some element of realism. Hill's next collaboration with Grier 'Foxy Brown' stepped away from that, and I didn't enjoy it as much, but compared to this it's a masterpiece. In 'Friday Foster' Grier is getting even closer to 'Cleopatra Jones' territory, but without the fun and style of that movie or its sequel. This movie actually has one of the best supporting casts of any blaxploitation film, but even that fails to satisfy. Yaphet Kotto plays Grier's detective buddy, and Julius Harris is her boss. Plus there's Scatman Crothers ('Black Belt Jones'), Thalmus Rasulala ('Blacula'), Godfrey Cambridge ('Cotton Comes To Harlem'), Paul Benjamin ('Across 110th Street') and Carl Weathers ('Rocky'), as well as Eartha Kitt, Isaac the bartender from 'The Love Boat' (Ted Lange) and even inexplicably 'Gilligan's Island's Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus)! As much as I love Grier and Kotto, 'Friday Foster's paper thin plot didn't hold my interest for very long and I was bored way before the climactic shootout. I regard this and 'Truck Turner' (which funnily enough also co-stars Yaphet Kotto) as the two most disappointing blaxploitation movies I've seen. If you want to see Pam Grier at her best watch 'Coffy', then follow it up with 'Foxy Brown' and 'Jackie Brown'. All three movies wipe the floor with this limp effort.