Two movies in one, the first is a relatively breezy courtroom drama about a public defender played by Peter Weller, who goes all in on the case of a drug dealer who killed a crooked cop in self defense all the while falling back in love with an old flame who is the ADA, the other is high-80s action with Sam Elliot as a Texas shitkicker who also an undercover narc. This movie luxuriates in the depravity of crack-era New York City. Multiple scenes of crack orgies, crack parties, women getting turned out for crack, dirty cops, and crack dealing. Its gritty portrayal of 80s NYC, with all real locations, is slightly undercut by scenes where Elliot and Weller do shootouts on motorcycles and Elliot takes down a plane by shooting the engines from the landing gear and it narrowly misses the Twin Towers. High-test 80s shit. A must see.
An undercover cop is killed. A drug dealer is arrested for the crime. However, the drug dealer says it's self-defense. Will anyone believe him? Peter Weller stars as the public defender assigned to the case. Sam Elliott is the honest maverick cop with his own unique style of justice. When the Shakedown happens; will you be ready? When Sam Elliott talks, I listen. He's the perfect spokesman for "Macho Manly Badass Motherfuckers." His voice, hairstyle and facial hair, make the ultimate triple-threat package. He owns every scene in Shakedown. His way with roller coasters, fast cars, handguns, toothbrushes and airplanes, can't be beat. He's the main reason you watch this flick.It's hard to follow an iconic role such as RoboCop. Just ask, Peter Weller. He's too vanilla and bland in Shakedown. He's in a love-triangle straight outta a Hallmark movie. He's hip, but maybe too yuppie hip? He's likable, but forgettable, at the same time. I like Peter Weller, but you could insert any actor in his role, and get the same results. Maybe, it's the fact, he's playing a lawyer? Simply put: Peter Weller is miscast in Shakedown.Although, there's plot holes deeper than your hole you dug to China, Shakedown must be admired for its balls-to-wall stunts. The stunts are so crazy, they don't pretend to use the main actors. You see the stuntfellas. There's no hiding them. It's also a rad time capsule for mid 80's New York City. I didn't see any rats on the streets, but I loved all the movie theaters, and what was playing at each one. Major props to the director, for sneaking his own films in. There's an odd-weird-tries-too-hard-just-say-no-social-justice-anti-drug message, that totally misses the target audience. But, you gotta dig Antonio Fargas aka the original Huggy Bear, as the mack daddy pimp drug kingpin, and Glazer from The Burning as the bad cop with a marvelous mullet. Plus, maybe the greatest drag race in the history of drag races. The soundtrack could've been better. The plot could've used some improvements. However, it's fun when Sam Elliott is being Sam Elliott, and worth a watch if you're a fan of 80's action.
like few great genre films, it manages to be many things at once: legal thriller, buddy movie, time capsule of period nyc grit, endorsement of blue jeans, anti-cop, proof that stunt performers deserve oscars but, most of all, it's just a guaranteed great time
