Everybody "hustles"-especially in Los Angeles where suicides, strip joints, shootouts, porno movies, the mob and murder combine into a collage. Caught in this web of modern reality is an old fashioned detective (Burt Reynolds). A moralist who still sees the difference between right and wrong, he can hardly reconcile himself to the ugliness of his job. By day he investigates a young girl's suicide; at night he relaxes with Catherine Deneuve, a high-priced Paris call girl. Director Robert Aldrich elicits fine performances from Reynolds and Deneuve while his perceptive direction explains why they're never quite able to escape the hustle they're so uncomfortable with.
