Film

Let's Do It Again

A 1975 comedy caper about two Atlanta working men who travel to New Orleans to fix a boxing match and raise money for their fraternal lodge. Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby star in this breezy, good-natured heist film that runs on charm, chemistry, and an excellent Curtis Mayfield soundtrack. It's a movie that wants you to have fun.

TMDb rating3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a con-artist caper where the scheming is as much fun as the set pieces, and you enjoy broad, big-hearted comedy with a sly sense of Black cultural pride and a wink at 1970s blaxploitation.

Skip it if you need a tightly wound plot, since this one is loose and mostly an excuse for gags, and its jokes land unevenly across 113 minutes.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a brisk, slapstick-heavy ride of about two hours, where the pace stays quick and the tone stays light, and you mostly just follow the scheme.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Uptown Saturday Night1974

Poitier directs himself and Cosby in an earlier caper with nearly identical energy—a Harlem card game gone wrong spirals into a quest through the city's nightlife. If you loved the rhythm of Let's Do It Again, this is its spiritual predecessor, same stars, same warmth.

But The plot is paper-thin and the pacing occasionally meanders. It also leans heavily on dated stereotypes that may feel uncomfortable depending on your tolerance.

Uptown Saturday Night poster

Silver Streak1976

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor on a cross-country train with mistaken identities, con men, and escalating chaos. It has the same goofy energy and interracial buddy chemistry, with slightly higher stakes and a train setting that keeps the comedy bouncing.

But The humor is broad and sometimes slapstick-heavy. Some of the racial humor hasn't aged gracefully, which may pull you out of the fun.

Silver Streak poster

The Sting1973

A perfectly engineered con-artist film with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. It's smarter and more intricate than Let's Do It Again, with an elaborate scheme and genuinely surprising reveals. The satisfaction of watching a plan come together is similar.

But It's considerably more cynical and less warm-hearted. If you want that genial vibe, you won't find it here—this is a sharper, colder film.

The Sting poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Let's Do It Again

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Cooley High1975

Both celebrate Black community and male friendship with genuine affection rather than mockery. Both have excellent period soundtracks and trust their characters to be funny without being punchlines.

A teen comedy-drama set in 1960s Chicago with Glynn Turman and Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs. It has the same warmth and community focus as Let's Do It Again, but trades the caper plot for a coming-of-age story about friendship and growing up Black in America. The groove is there—soul, laughter, and real heart.

But It shifts into genuine tragedy in the final act. If you're going in for pure comedy, that turn will catch you off-guard and darken the mood significantly.

Cooley High poster
More like this (8)

Cotton Comes to Harlem1970

Ossie Davis (who's in Let's Do It Again) directs and stars in this blaxploitation detective comedy. It has that same 1970s groove, a Harlem setting, and the same mix of crime plot with comedic charm and community-centered storytelling.

But It's grittier and less polished than Let's Do It Again. The pacing can feel slack, and it leans into blaxploitation tropes that aren't for everyone.

Cotton Comes to Harlem poster

Stir Crazy1980

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor again, this time wrongly imprisoned and planning an escape. It's got the same buddy-comedy warmth, a scheme at its core, and genuine affection between the leads that makes you root for them.

But The middle section drags a bit. Prison comedy can feel uncertain in tone, and this film sometimes struggles between slapstick and genuine stakes.

Stir Crazy poster

The In-Laws1979

Peter Falk and Alan Arkin on a wild ride from New York to Central America involving espionage, chaos, and an inescapable buddy dynamic. It's whimsical and unpredictable in a way that shares Let's Do It Again's sense of fun.

But The plot doesn't always make sense and the absurdist humor is very specific. If you want narrative coherence, this isn't it.

The In-Laws poster

Fast Break1979

Gabe Kaplan coaches a ragtag basketball team to the big game. It's a feel-good sports comedy with genuine heart, a diverse ensemble cast, and that same 1970s good-natured energy about underdogs pulling together.

But It's formulaic and the basketball scenes are dated. The comedy can be thin and it won't surprise you.

Fast Break poster

Car Wash1976

An ensemble comedy set in a Los Angeles car wash on a single day. It's got ensemble charm, groove, and that same casual 1970s vibe about regular people getting into amusing situations. Richard Pryor is in it, and so is everyone else.

But There's no real plot, just a series of vignettes. If you need narrative structure, you'll find this episodic and occasionally directionless.

Car Wash poster

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three1974

Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw in a cat-and-mouse heist on the New York subway. It's got the same caper structure and 1970s grit, with genuine tension balanced by sharp dialogue and a clever game of wits.

But It's considerably more tense and less comedic. If you're after laughs, you'll find this leans thriller instead.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three poster

The Warriors1979

Both films present brotherhood and male bonding as the emotional core. Both have a strong visual/sonic identity and trust the audience to buy into their particular worlds completely.

A stylized New York street gang travels across the city at night in this heightened, operatic thriller. It's nothing like Let's Do It Again in tone, but shares its ensemble cast, its deep investment in group dynamics and loyalty, and its complete commitment to its own world's logic and rhythm.

But It's violent, bleak, and deadly serious. The visual style is mannered in a way that may feel dated or affected. This is the opposite of a feel-good movie.

The Warriors poster

Claudine1974

Both celebrate working-class Black life and community with affection and humor. Both are unashamed about mixing comedy with real feeling, and both treat their characters as full people with inner lives, not stereotypes.

Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones in a romantic comedy about a welfare mother and a garbage collector building a life together in Harlem. It's a 1970s African-American film with humor, warmth, and genuine romance. It has groove and authenticity, with working-class characters treated with complete dignity.

But It's a romantic drama, not a caper or action film. The pacing is leisurely and if you're after plot momentum, you won't find it. Some may find it dated in its gender dynamics.

Claudine poster

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Recommended by

Claudine, Uptown Saturday Night, A Piece of the Action