MISFIT PATROL

Produced and Directed by Anthony Cardoza
Written by Michael King and Charles Beeler
Edited by Paul J. Coyne and Elaine T. Coyne
Director of Photography - Frank Ruttencutter

Bryant - Dave Fuentes
Murphy - Conrad Brooks
Sheila - Hope Kelly
Captain Cook - Vernon Wells

I never thought I would say this, but I've finally found nudity in a film that shouldn't really have been present. The scene comes about 2/3 of the way into Anthony Cardoza's MISFIT PATROL. The beautiful, young Sheila, played by Hope Kelly, is living her day to day hell inside an urban, crime-ridden high school. Now as much as I hate to say it, Sheila looks old enough to have just finished grad school, let alone high school. The scene in question comes out of nowhere. We hear the phone ring. Soon Sheila steps out of the shower to answer it. Up until this point there, there wasn't so much as a single swear word. Those boobs, as close to perfection as they were, almost spoilt a truly sweet comedy.

I don't hold the scene in question against the filmmakers. When it comes down to it, filmmaking is a money game. Every movie needs a selling point, it's just a little sad to have to be reminded in such an obvious manner.

With a decades long list of credits in the b-movie industry, Conrad Brooks stars with Dave Fuentes as a pair of LAPD inner city cops, Murphy and Bryant. How these guys made it to vice I'll never know. It isn't that they ignore the rules, it's that they just don't know the rules. Between the pair, there aren't two gray cells to rub together. They should be on the short bus, not in a patrol car. Picture a geriatric Bill and Ted.

After a foul up during a sting operation on the local drug lord, the two find themselves demoted to crossing guards a local high school. Not only didn't they have authority for the bust, they didn't have a clue as to what they were doing. The only witness to the ordeal was Sheila, who happens to attend the same school where Bryant and Murphy now patrol.

Most of the plot from this point on is made up of coincidences. Logic takes a left turn when the story goes right. If that bothers you, then don't watch. What saves the film is the relationship between the two male leads. Bryant and Murphy aren't the recently coupled mismatched pair portrayed in so many buddy cop films. You get the feeling they were friends right from the start. There is genuine love, affection, and loyalty, things missing form so many Hollywood films.

Having met Conrad Brooks, I can say he's just as nice and sweet a man as he plays in the film. The only difference is he's much brighter. That's possibly one of the reasons why the chemistry works between the leads as well as it does, they are allowed to be themselves. Typical buddy movies play upon the differences between the characters, not the friendship between the two. Can't two likable people be allowed to be friends on film?

Friendship is the core that holds MISFIT PATROL together. Sure, some of the jokes are lame and the action doesn't hold, but isn't that typical of b-movies in general? MISFIT PARTOL is about much more than that. It goes to the another level and works wonderfully.

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You can order a copy of MISFIT PATROL for $20 plus $3.20 shipping directly from Conrad Brooks by writing to him at:

Conrad Brooks
P.O. Box 1192
Falling Waters, WV 25419