Let's Do It AgainA pair of blue-collar buddies use hypnosis to turn a wimpy boxer into a champ in this crime comedy, which reunites actor/director
Sidney Poitier and comedian
Bill Cosby, stars of the similarly themed Uptown Saturday Night. Clyde Williams (
Poitier) and Billy Foster (
Cosby) want to help raise funds to sustain the Sons and Daughters of Shaka Lodge, their local community group. Given that Clyde was trained as a hypnotist while in the military, the pair decide to con mobster Biggie Smalls (
Calvin Lockhart) by placing a high-stakes bet on a boxing match and then using hocus-pocus to transform skinny underdog Bootney Farnsworth (
Jimmie Walker) into a bruiser. When Biggie finds out about their ruse, he and his thugs move in to reclaim their money, setting the stage for further laughs and sleight-of-hand. With a supporting cast that includes
Denise Nicholas and
Lee Chamberlin as the protagonists' wives and
Ossie Davis as an elder at their lodge, Let's Do It Again also reunited Good Times stars
Walker and
John Amos to the silver screen.
Cosby and
Poitier would return two years later with A Piece of the Action, though
Lockhart, another veteran of Uptown Saturday Night, would sit out the final team-up. Hip-hop fans will note that
Lockhart's character provided one of the aliases for slain '90s Rap star Christopher Wallace, also known as the Notorious B.I.G. The soundtrack for Let's Do It Again featured
Curtis Mayfield songs performed by the
the Staple Singers. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
