Shakedown Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1988

Shakedown, directed by James Glickenhaus, is a relatively unique movie due to its ability to masterfully weave together two seemingly conflicting genres into one highly entertaining film: courtroom drama and outrageous action. One minute the viewer is watching a dark story about crooked New York cops take root, and the next it kicks into high gear and offers exciting chase scenes, gun battles and fist fights (on moving roller coasters, no less!). That the viewer actually looks forward to both, rather than one distracting from the other, is perhaps the best compliment one can give a film.

When one thinks of classic 80's films, Shakedown is one that rarely comes to mind. Somehow this gem slipped under the radar of most viewers, yet its tremendously excessive action scenes spliced here and there within the fairly typical corrupt cop story ranks among the decade's best.

A drug pusher named Michael Jones (Richard Brooks) is arrested for the murder of an undercover cop, and public defender Roland Dalton (Peter Weller) takes on the case. Although Jones is a street criminal with a rap sheet a mile long, he insists that the cop never identified himself and actually tried to kill him, thus the kill was done in self-defense. Skeptical of the claims, Dalton decides to investigate the allegations anyways to see if there is some truth to them.

When he meets up with his buddy Richie Marks (Sam Elliott), a rugged cop that knows the corruption imbedded within the police system all too well, Dalton walks away with a couple leads as well as a warning:

Richie: You just don't get it, do ya? Don't f**k with these people.
Roland: Richie, I don't want to f**k with them. I just want to dance.

And dance he does, as he uncovers a conspiracy involving Nicky Carr (Antonio Fargas), a very powerful and rich drug kingpin, and a seemingly endless band of corrupt cops led by the burly Officer Rydel (Larry Joshua). How bad is Rydel?

Rydel: If the information you're giving us turns out to be bulls**t, we're going to put you in the cell with biiig Leroy, a 350 pound bull-ni**er fa**ot. And when you get out in 5 years, maybe? You'll be able to look up your a**hole and see the sky. Don't f**k with me.

Let's just say I hope a cop like him never pulls me over for a traffic ticket!

Shakedown wraps together a romantic storyline between Dalton and an ex-flame, courtroom drama as the defender must convince the jury of his dubious client's innocence, and high octane action as Richie and Dalton must seek out – and defend themselves against – some dangerous foes.

As mentioned earlier, the action scenes are a definite highlight of this movie. The car chases are manic and well choreographed, and the action scenes would make Rambo look like a sissy. Possibly the best scene in Shakedown features a gun battle and on-foot chase through an amusement park that eventually culminates in a fist fight on a moving roller coaster. When you consider that most stunts in the 80's were the real deals rather than computerized green screen effects, it makes these exciting efforts all the more impressive.

And of course the actors played more than a small role in making Shakedown a compelling film. I was always a little cold on Peter Weller before this film; although I enjoyed Robocop, I felt he was a bit limited and wooden. After watching his convincing role as a passionate public defender that is becoming jaded at the filth he is called to defend, I've changed my mind. Weller can deliver the goods.

Sam Elliott, of course, was awesome; he's the type of actor that can lend a ray of hope to even the weakest movie. At first we're not sure what to think about his character, for the cop is little better than common street trash, yet as the film develops we see that there's more to this grizzled rogue cop than his bona fide man's-man attitude (though there's plenty of that attitude too!).

My recommendation for Shakedown ends up being pretty simple: if you enjoy corrupt cop movies, see it. If you enjoy thrilling action movies, see it. The only way I can see anyone disliking this 80's gem is if someone had their heart set on a pure drama or a pure action flick, rather than a deft hybrid of the two.

Movie rating: 9 stars

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