Shakedown (1988)

A legal attorney and renegade cop team up to stop a corrupt cop.

Director:

James Glickenhaus

Writer:

James Glickenhaus

Stars:

Peter Weller, Sam Elliott, Richard Brooks

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Brooks	...	Michael Jones
Jude Ciccolella	...	Patrick O'Leary
George Loros	...	Officer Varelli
Thomas G. Waites	...	Officer Kelly (as Tom Waites)
Daryl Edwards	...	Dr. Watson
Jos Laniado	...	Ruben
Peter Weller	...	Roland Dalton
Blanche Baker	...	Gail Feinberger
John C. McGinley	...	Sean Phillips (as John McGinley)
Patricia Charbonneau	...	Susan Cantrell
Shirley Stoler	...	Irma
Walter Flanagan	...	Prison Guard
Walter Bobbie	...	Dean Howland
Henry Judd Baker	...	Big Leroy (as Judd Henry Baker)
Sam Elliott	...	Richie Marks

Storyline

A drug dealer shoots a corrupt police officer. Though the drug dealer admits his guilt, he pleads self-defense. His lawyer, Roland Dalton, and renegade loner NYPD narcotics agent Richie Marks, pursue evidence in his favor. They encounter difficulties from other corrupt police officers, drug dealers, and various street scum. Dalton's life is further complicated by the fact that the prosecuting attorney is a former lover.

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Plot Keywords:

nudity | female nudity | drug dealer | attorney | corrupt cop | 

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Taglines:

When the bad guys have taken over... and the good guys are the worst of all... Whatever you do, don't call the cops.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blue Jean Cop

Filming Locations:

21-69 Shore Blvd, Long Island city, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,017,800, 8 May 1988

Gross USA:

$10,068,039

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,068,039

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment, Blue Jean Cop

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min (PAL) 93 min (PAL)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was released as "Blue Jean Cop' in almost every other country except the US.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Richie Marks: I know what you're thinkin'! I'm young and quick, and he's old and slow! What are you going to do, asshole?
[Perpetrator turn & runs away. Marks disgusted with himself]
Richie Marks: . Dumb fucking question.

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Alternate Versions

On its first run past the Australian classification board, the film was rated R. To garner a wider audience, Hoyts removed approx. 1 minute of footage so that the film could get an M rating. The footage removed included the "condom" scene with the old jailer, all references to homosexuality and snitches being "turned out", the scene outside the porno theater where the Nicky Carr's right-hand man guns down the bystanders after the cops and the Russian roulette scene in the police station. this footage was never reinstated for the film's VHS or subsequent DVD release.

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Connections

References Jackals (1986)

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Soundtracks

Purple Haze
Written by Jimi Hendrix (uncredited)
Performed by Jimi Hendrix
Courtesy of A.R.M.B.Y.

User Reviews

Enjoyably cliched 80s buddy cop film with more mullets than you can shake a stick at!

I don't think I'd seen this film since it originally came out in the theater. I remember thinking it was pretty ridiculous then, but it's aged better than I'd expected, mainly thanks to it's cast, the use of actual NYC locations, and 80s action film nostalgia value. Peter Weller plays a groovy lawyer and Sam Elliott plays a renegade narcotics detective. It's a cliche ridden story of Weller and Elliott then face off against drug dealers, corrupt police officers, and other assorted low-lifes. The script by writer/director James Glickenhaus is pretty awful, but his action sequences are serviceable. In the film's favor is the fun pairing of Elliott and Weller and also the use of grimy pre-Giuliani NYC locations, including one action sequence filmed at 42nd Street in Times Square when it was still a den of go-go bars, peep shows, and adult theaters. It was certainly a good thing that Giuliani cleaned up the streets of NYC, but when it comes to movies filmed in The Big Apple, I have a fond affection for films like "The Warriors", "Maniac", "Gloria", "C.H.U.D.", "Black Caesar", "Across 110th Street", "Combat Shock", or even Glickenhaus' own "The Exterminator" which all prominently featured the seedy side of the city that never sleeps. Also in the film's favor is that it featured more mullets than any recent action film I can think of outside of "Roadhouse". Overall, "Shakedown" is a highly routine buddy cop picture to the degree of being a genre stereotype, but it has enough positives to be enjoyed by fans of these sorts of films.