Shakedown
Shakedown
R | 06 May 1988 (USA)
Shakedown Trailers

When a local drug dealer shoots a dishonest cop in self-defense, lawyer and renegade undercover cop join forces to clear him. But when their investigation leads them into a maze of greed and corruption, they learn that in a town where everything is for sale, anything can happen.

Reviews
Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.
Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
ellenirishellen-62962 They work well together,but understand Weller is TOO intense.Love Sam,though.Corrupt cops nearly get away with it all,both heroes only just escape death.Weller is a real nerd here,Sam his usual cool dude.Great support all around,even if I rooted for the cops to fail.They did,all were pretty sleazy.Especially loved when Mr Porsche got his for his role in losing evidence.
Predrag The story is goofy but enjoyable and also disjointed. Weller is a legal aid lawyer about to sell out to Wall Street because he is marrying money, and Elliott is an honest cop living in a theater who is estranged from his wife. Weller and Elliott know each other - they are friends with a history, it seems - but why that is the case is never explained. They actually have good chemistry together. Weller catches a case where his client is innocent of murdering a cop; the client is a drug dealer who shot the dishonest cop in self- defense. Elliott works with the same band of dishonest cops that this cop belonged to. Somehow these cops are involved with a gangster - an African-American hip gangster because it is the '80s - who they initially raid but later they work with for no reason that is ever explained. When action is required, the bad guys open fire on innocent bystanders and explosions ensue with no concern for the safety of anyone.The story line is disjointed. There are leaps of story-telling, e.g., why does Weller think it is such a brilliant idea to break into the police headquarters rather than asking Elliott to get the evidence? Who knows, it just happens. And how does ripping some wires off the back of a roller coaster cause it to jump the tracks? Again, stuff just happens. Peter Weller delivers a great role as a lawyer defending a young black drug dealer who was attacked by an off duty police officer because of the kids skin color. Shows a twist of corrupt cops and racism at it finest. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
Scott LeBrun From James Glickenhaus, director of "The Exterminator", comes this buddy flick that proves that you don't have to reinvent the wheel in order to make a solid action flick. Its characters are always watchable and its action scenes are expertly done. Glickenhaus's script is on the routine side but his execution helps to make up for that.Peter Weller plays Roland Dalton, a public defender who takes the case of a drug dealer (Richard Brooks) who shot an undercover cop - but who apparently did it in self defense. Teaming up with a maverick detective played by Sam Elliott, he finds that the case leads to revelations about corruption in the NYC police department.It's nice to see Weller looking like he's really having fun, and Elliott is likewise quite engaging. Weller strikes some sparks with Patricia Charbonneau, who plays a district attorney who just so happens to be an old girlfriend of Daltons'. It doesn't take long for him to submit to her charms even though he's already engaged to be married (to Gail Feinberger, played by Blanche Baker). Antonio Fargas is smooth as ever as big shot criminal Nicky Carr; Brooks and Larry Joshua are good in their supporting roles. While watching, the viewer can have a busy time playing spot the familiar face: Thomas G. Waites, Shirley Stoler, John C. McGinley, Jude Ciccolella, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Kelly Rutherford, Paul Bartel, James Eckhouse, David Proval, Harold Perrineau, William Prince and Holt McCallany all turn up.Ultimately, this does get silly, and it doesn't tie up its loose ends well, but it's so well paced, and so undeniably exciting at times, that it sizes up as a good time for action aficionados. Among the highlights are a chase / fight Elliott has with a street thug that finishes nicely with a runaway roller coaster moment. It's also good for a look at 42nd Street when it was still in its decadent period.Look for a theatre marquee displaying "Fatal Beauty", which also featured Elliott; a previous Glickenhaus picture, "The Soldier", can be seen playing on a movie screen.Seven out of 10.
Robert J. Maxwell It starts off with an interesting if already familiar problem: How do we dig out corruption in the NYPD when there is so much crack money floating around? In "Serpico" a Brooklyn narc hijacks the hero off the street and threatens him, saying, "This is serious money." That's the milieu we find ourselves in here.Peter Weller is a nobody Legal Aid lawyer trying to get his drug-dealing client off because the suspect actually killed in self defense. An undercover cop tried to rip off his drugs and cash in Central Park, shooting him in the process. The opposing prosecutor is Weller's ex-lover, Patricia Charbonneau. Weller enlists the aid of an undercover friend of his, Sam Elliot, in trying to uncover the truth.The questions addressed are important, and the script sounds literate for the first half hour. Someone went to the trouble of ferreting out apt quotes about justice from the New Testament. But after that it goes downhill fast. It's as if somebody had handed in a decent and thoughtful script about the characters, then another party had taken the script and doctored it, putting in a quote from Dirty Harry (twice), a shootout in what looks like Times Square, a funny car chase through the streets of New York (twice), wisecracks in times of mortal danger ("You drive, I'll shoot."), and finally a rip off of a physically impossible feat from Schwarzenegger's "Commando." Too bad. Charbonneau and Weller are well matched, each with prominent bony facial features. Charbonneau sounds like Sondra Locke if you close your eyes. Sam Elliot is reliable too, and he demonstrates his range here. At one end, he can lower his face then cock it over his shoulder at someone and offer sage advice with a smirk and a baritone. At the other end, he can chuckle. Peter Weller I've always liked, though he shows his limitations as an actor here. Whatever prompted him to pursue a Master's degree in, what?, Ancient Civilizations? And then look for positions as Adjunct Professor at places like Franklin and Marshall and Syracuse University? (I've got it. He needed the money a part-time teacher makes!) Whatever his motives, I admire him for his intellectual curiosity. Weller's character is no invincible superhero either. When somebody holds a gun to his head he's scared to death and tells them what they want to know.Notwithstanding all that, this isn't a movie designed to appeal to grown ups. There's no point in listing the plot loopholes or loose ends. The evil people are plain evil. The good people are plain good. There's none of the ambiguity of real life. One can only wonder what a yeoman director like Don Seagal or Sidney Lumet might have done with material like this.