Shakedown (The 80's Film)

Shakedown (1988)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Directed by: James Glickenhaus

Starring: Peter Weller, Sam Elliott, Patricia Charbonneau, Antonio Fargas, Blanche Baker

From: Universal

When I view a movie because of a Tweet… on this day where my review is posted a little earlier than typical on a Friday due to my schedule, it was my stumbling upon this Tweet-a second account responding to a first Tweet, which was then reblogged by a third account, none of whom I follow-which gave me the push to finally check out a film I’ve known of for many years. In terms of James Glickenhaus, The Soldier was quite the letdown due to a bad plot but The Exterminator was at least wildly fun at times, albeit far from polished.

The story is occasionally clunky but otherwise was fine in presenting its tale of public defender Peter Weller teaming up with narcotics detective Sam Elliott to try and take down some dirty cops who are also racist-insert your own pithy comments if you so wish-in the sleazy New York City of Old. Of course I enjoyed the few scenes filmed in Times Square (including the action setpiece almost halfway through which was in the Twitter link & the accounts praised for being fun) and laughed when I heard a rap cover of Subterranean Homesick Blues… then guffawed when I realized it was by the Red Hot Chili Peppers! I can count on two fingers the times I’ve unexpectedly heard that song in a film the past four weeks; weird how it’s happened twice already.

The two protagonists do some ethically and morally questionable things throughout; be that as it may, the villains of course are easy to hate (including Antonio Fargas as a drug dealer who I wish could have played a bigger role in the plot) and whether you enjoy a sleazy NYC setting like me, a stereotypical 80’s score and/or satisfactory action beats which at times can veer suddenly into OOT territory-look at the ending-then this is B-action which isn’t a must-see but if you wish that the movies of today will randomly feature a protagonist who blasts Purple Haze in his kitchen as he makes himself a breakfast of popcorn and an Orange Julius which includes a hint of coffee… that could also be used as a metaphor for Shakedown’s plot: a number of elements come together which don’t exactly fit but the resultant concoction was good for my tastes.