Why does the movie fail?

There are so many elements TSU shares with The French Connection that comparison is inevitable. Yet it fails notably where TFC succeeded. One reason is the writing: Sonny Russo is no Oscar-winning Ernest Tidyman. The characters aren't sharply drawn: Scheider's a generic tough cop, the other 7-ups are indistinguishable from each other (except one's black), the villains are out-of-the-mold. Compare that to TRC's raunchy, brilliant Popeye; the put-upon, steadfast Cloudy; the polished Charnier; the overreaching Sal Boca. Also, unlike its complement, TSU's dialog is unmemorable. Even the plot itself, and final resolution, aren't compelling. We're not intrigued by the kidnapping story or by discovering who was behind it (as if we hadn't already figured it out). And the scenes aren't shaped by director D'Antoni. Even the chase lacks the tight sequencing of intense thrills that made TFC chase so heart-stopping. The one distinguishing thing about TSU is the unrelieved drabness of the settings. While TFC expertly weaved between the posh world of the druglords and the Orwellian environs of the junkies and cops, TSU seems to exist solely in the latter. Even the mob boss's mansion has a cheesey, Tony Soprano look to it (the scene of the wife in bed screaming is unintentionally hilarious). It's a colorless, industrial, depressing world of abandoned buildings, gray garages, overgrown grounds and garbage. It's the most hellish of the New York as Urban Hell movies that were made in the '70s. Not a great attribute, but a distinction nonetheless.