The North Avenue Irregulars 1979

The FBI couldn't do it... the CIA couldn't do it... so they sent for... Hill's Angels.

6.4 / 10   14 vote(s)
G
Family Action Comedy Crime

When crooks set up operations in a traditional town, a minister and a group of church ladies are willing to do anything, no matter how wacky, to get them out.

Release Date 1979-02-09
Runtime 1h 40m
Directors Bruce Bilson, Christopher N. Seiter, Gene De Ruelle, Randy Carter, Al Roelofs
Producers Kevin Corcoran, Tom Leetch, Ron Miller
Writers Don Tait, Albert Fay Hill

What a pleasant surprise.

Given it has one of the least exciting titles out there and, on Prime Video anyway, a poor cover (the actual cover is neat, tbf) I wasn't expecting much from 'The North Avenue Irregulars'. However, I'm pleased to say I had a fun time watching it.

First things first: The plot. It's manic and rather bonkers, but they execute it nicely. I found the humour suitably amusing, while the main characters are all likeable. The run time perhaps overruns by 5-10mins, though that's nothing serious. The ending is mad, in a positive way.

The cast are good. Barbara Harris, who is terrific in 1976's 'Freaky Friday', stars alongside a whole host of other women - something I only state as it's unusual for this era of Disney. Those alongside Harris include Cloris Leachman, Virginia Capers, Susan Clark, Karen Valentine and Patsy Kelly. Elsewhere, Edward Herrmann and Michael Constantine do fine jobs.

A fun, shenanigan-filled film from 1979.

r96sk