Isaac Hayes, composer of the seminal soundtrack for the 1971 hit Shaft, added acting to his repertoire with this modest action-drama. Hayes is often better than his material in this film. He plays a skip-tracer nicknamed Truck ("because his methods usually carry a violent impact"), out to avenge the death of his buddy (Alan Weeks). Hayes plays Truck as a wise-cracking, swaggering good guy who finds himself in a to-the-death battle with local crime syndicate head Harvard Blue (menacingly played by Yaphet Kotto). The action is cartoonish, Jonathan Kaplan's direction is often clumsy, and the script is predictable at best, but Hayes is fascinating to watch. The fun of the film is the parade of unusual supporting players, including Nichelle Nichols ("Star Trek's" Uhura) as the vengeful girlfriend of a pimp killed by Truck Turner, Scatman Crothers as a retired pimp, and best- and worst-dressed list creator Mr. Blackwell as a street drunk.-Doris Worsham