Alone in the Neon Jungle (1988) (TV)

Director:

Georg Stanford Brown

Writers:

Stephen Downing (writer)
Mark Rodgers (writer)

Release Date:

17 January 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Where the dirtiest crimes are committed by cops

Plot:

A by the book female police officer is assigned to the most corrupt precinct in Pittsburgh and told to get it cleaned up.

Plot Keywords:

Police

Cast

Suzanne Pleshette	...	Capt. Janet Hamilton
Danny Aiello	...	Chief
Jon Tenney	...	Todd Hansen
Joe Morton	...	Ken Fraker
Raymond Serra	...	Sgt. Sal Ruby
Jon Polito	...	Brad Stakowski
Priscilla Lopez
Charlotte d'Amboise	...	Paige O'Brien
W.T. Martin
Jude Ciccolella
Patty Owen
Alex Coleman
Brad Greenquist
Georg Stanford Brown	...	Sgt. Clevon Jackson
Frank Converse	...	John Hamilton

Also Known As:

Command in Hell

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

RHI Entertainment

Whore City!

As my fellow reviewer pointed out, the only crimes committed in this city is prostitution and minor burglary! Not exactly the worst crimes in the world, to say it's supposed to be the 'sewer of lowlifes,' it doesn't seem that bad compared to some major cities around the country.

Still, it is a TV movie so it's somewhat sanitised and not going to be Al Pacino's 'Scarface' for instance. For something from this maligned genre, it's fairly watchable and again, I've seen far worse examples. The plot is very predictable, 'new captain goes to corrupt police station and cleans it up.' Since she's a woman, maybe she should have taken a mop & bucket and a duster....only joking! Please, no letters complaining of sexism.

As to be expected, she sorts out the bad eggs and gets the decent cops back online. While there, there's also the matter of the mystery killer behind the death of another officer. But this is a no-brainer as we see the man early on doing the murder, although, cloaked in shadows, it's pretty easy to see by his height, build and colouring, who he is! No surprise when he is later revealed.

Suzanne Pleshette makes a decent fist of the lead role, although, as pointed out by another reviewer, her nodding dog in the back of the car style of acting is somewhat irritating at times. A small part by Danny Aiello as well before he went on to bigger and better things.

Acting honours go to Jon Tenney as the naive rookie, Hansen who is slowly drawn into the sleazy corrupt world of his fellow officers. A nice understated piece of work that convinces.

In conclusion, watchable but nothing we haven't seen before in episodes of 'Kojak' or 'Starsky & Hutch.' And finally, to enlighten my fellow reviewer, Theo from Scotland, the correct phrase that was used to intimidate the informant was: "you know what happens to cops in prison? They get raped and THEN thrown off the top tier." As the sound recording quality isn't the best, not surprising it's hard to make out.