Beyond the Law (1968)

Grove Press
Directed by Norman Mailer
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

City cops meet at a restaurant for blind dates. They tell the girls a series of stories about their lives as policeman. Most of the action takes place in the precinct office, where they harass and intimidate people they have just arrested. Norman Mailer, speaking in a fake Irish brogue, spouts his usual hate wrapped up in clever word play. Why these women hang out with these guys is the real mystery. The full on-screen title, which shows the depth of Mailer's ego, is: Beyond the Law, alias Bust 80, alias Gibraltar, Burke and Pope, alias Copping the Whip, or A Fantasy of the Angels, the Downtrodden and the Dispossessed, otherwise known as The Velvet Hand and the Iron Tongue.