Night of the Juggler Review: Restored Crime Classic

An ex-cop goes on the hunt for his daughter’s kidnapper in Night of the Juggler, a white-knuckled action flick set in NYC’s sleaziest era.

It’s fifteen-year-old Kathy’s (Abby Bluestone) birthday, and she’s looking forward to a night at the ballet with her dad, ex-cop Sean Boyd (James Brolin). She’s mistaken for the daughter of a wealthy developer when she’s nabbed off the street by Gus Soltic (Cliff Gorman), a madman on a mission. He’s motivated by a racist righteousness, furious at the diversification of the city and the loss of his family’s properties. Not realising his error, he demands $1,000,000 from a family whose child is still in their front room. 

Boyd, witnessing his little girl be taken, responds with a rampage, pursuing Soltic on foot and by commandeering a couple of cars. A cab driver, played by Mandy Patinkin, is the first of a whole cast of characters who embody director Robert Butler’s vision of New York City. Sitting in the back seat as they pursue Soltic, Boyd listens as the cabbie tells him he can catch anything with wheels and together they’ll ‘kick his ass, the goddamn pervert’. He used to take part in the ‘Puerto Rican 500’, where there were 500 guys who all got loaded, all stole a car, and had a race. In Night of the Juggler, everyone has a story like this to tell, all from living a life on society’s fringes. Even more so than Kathy’s kidnapping, it’s the citizens Boyd encounters along the way that bring the film to life in all its gritty glory. 

This sordid era of New York City is well-documented in the movies, but it never gets old. Steam rises from the sewers and the city’s iconic subway carriages are defiled by graffiti, as if it was made for the cinema. There are corrupt cops and pimps, strippers and gangs, and Boyd has to navigate a world of sleaze for clues to Soltic’s whereabouts. Brolin plays the ex-cop with a permanently clenched fist, punching first and asking questions later. He looks every bit the 80s action star with his thick hair and beard, his increasingly dishevelled clothes, and the way he delivers every line with aggressively gritted teeth. The film may have benefitted from the passing of time, as these retro aesthetics are its strongest asset. Some of its contemporaries have greater legacies because they’re more palatable, have more bankable stars, more memorable setpieces. This is for the genre purists.

Night of the Juggler begins with Richard Castellano’s Lt. Tonelli dealing with a bomb threat and the rising costs of his daughter’s wedding, both equally inconvenient to him. ‘You know, I got a feeling. It’s gonna be another goddamn New York day’, he says, even before learning of Kathy’s kidnapping. Kino Lorber have done a fantastic job bringing the film back from obscurity, and in doing so, rescued a POV of late 70s NYC that’s a world away from Billionaires’ Row in 2025. Night of the Juggler’s goddamn New York day is undesirable and filthy, but the film is a worthy entry into the pantheon of great action flicks set in the Big Apple.

Night of the Juggler will be re-released in a new 4K restoration at the IFC Center (NYC) from August 1, 2025.