Foxy Brown

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"That's my sister, baby. And she's a whole lotta woman."

Foxy Brown is a 1974 Blaxploitation film, one of the first to feature a strong female lead--specifically, Pam Grier, the original Action Girl. Following the success of its spiritual predecessor, Coffy, writer/director Jack Hill wanted to create a sequel that would star Pam Grier reprising her famous role. The working script, titled Burn, Coffy, Burn, was changed at the last minute when American-International Pictures decided they didn't want the movie to be a sequel. The script was quickly rewritten, and Foxy Brown was born.

Foxy Brown's boyfriend, Dalton Ford, recently worked undercover to expose a local crime ring. The movie opens shortly after he receives plastic surgery, and he's all set to retire under his new identity, Michael Anderson. Unfortunately, Link Brown, Foxy's drug dealing brother, recognizes Michael for who he is and exposes him to the mob in exchange for leniency regarding his own indescretions. The mob has Dalton/Michael murdered, and Foxy Brown poses as a High-Class Call Girl to get her revenge against and take down the creepy white couple who run everything.

Not to be confused with the rapper of the same name.

Tropes used in Foxy Brown include:
  • Action Girl: It was the 70's and it starred Pam Grier. Foxy Brown was one of the first of her kind.
  • Afro Asskicker
  • The Aggressive Drug Dealer: The backwoods hicks shown later in the film are something of a 70's version of this trope. They give Foxy injections of heroin while she sleeps in an effort to get her addicted.
  • Baby Carriage: An early fight scene shows a criminal pushing a carriage in front of a car, which fortunately turns before impact.
  • Battleaxe Nurse: A lighter version of this trope is Dalton's nurse, who breaks up Dalton's romantic moment with Foxy and goes so far as to slap his, um, pitched tent.
  • Bar Brawl: When Claudia is being aggressively hit upon by a rather butch woman at the lesbian bar, Foxy comes in to rescue her. After an incident with a bar stool (see below), the patrons come after Foxy, who starts kicking ass. The fight escalates quickly, with thrown chairs, broken tables, and at least one lady's head going into a jukebox.
  • Corrupt Hick: The two bumbling drug dealers that hold Foxy hostage are as backwoods as they come.
  • Cruel Mercy: "Death is too easy for you, bitch. I want you to suffer." This suffering includes the knowledge that Foxy removed the manhood of said bitch's boyfriend.
  • Ear Ache: Foxy shoots Link in the ear when she finds out what he's done. He's seen later with his ear bandaged.
  • Hammerspace Hair: Foxy hides a gun in her hair.
  • High-Class Call Girl: Foxy poses as one. As with Coffy, this is a standard means of both allowing Pam Grier's character to get to the top for revenge and take off her clothes in the process.
  • Honey Trap: Foxy and Claudia pull this one on their first client.
  • Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Claudia.
  • I Know Karate: A very butch lesbian at the bar feels it's fair to warn Foxy that her hands are deadly weapons. Foxy has her own warning, given only after she uses it...
  • Improbable Weapon User: ..."I've got my black belt in barstools!"
  • The Infiltration: This is the backstory behind Dalton Ford, before he's given plastic surgery and becomes Michael Anderson. After his death, Foxy does the same thing to avenge him.
  • Jive Turkey: Lots of it, even more than Coffy.
  • Magic Plastic Surgery: Arguably averted. The movie opens after the surgery takes place, so the audience is not shown what Dalton Ford looked like before he became Michael Anderson (except for a small newspaper photo). One of his colleagues comments on how effective the procedure was. Despite this, Foxy's brother is able to recognize Dalton/Michael and report him to the gangsters.
  • Naked People Trapped Outside: Foxy Brown and Claudia, her new call girl friend, strip their first client naked, make fun of his genitals, then throw him out into the hotel hallway without pants. A group of middle aged women catch him struggling with an innocent bystander, and batter him with their purses and umbrellas.
  • Psycho Lesbian: The woman who makes the very direct advances on Claudia while at the lesbian bar certainly qualifies for this trope.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge
  • Sassy Black Woman
  • Sesquipedalian Smith: Sort of.
  • Son of a Whore: Claudia, the call girl Foxy befriends early in the movie, has a husband and a son. They both want her to come home, but the evil pimp couple won't let her.
  • This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: Used a few times by Foxy herself.
  • Unholy Matrimony: Steve Elias and Katherine Wall, a passionate couple who are also drug kingpins and pimps.
  • Vigilante Woman: Foxy Brown, like Coffy, deals out her own brand of justice.