Shakedown (1988 film)

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Shakedown

DVD cover
Directed by James Glickenhaus
Produced by J. Boyce Harman Jr.
Written by James Glickenhaus
Starring Peter Weller
Sam Elliott
Music by Jonathan Elias
Cinematography John Lindley
Editing by Paul Fried
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) 1988
Running time 112 min.
Country U.S.A.
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Shakedown is a 1988 crime drama/action movie starring Peter Weller and Sam Elliott. The movie is about an idealistic lawyer teaming with a veteran cop to find out the truth in a possible police corruption scandal.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Roland Dalton (Weller) is a public attorney, finishing up his time until he gets married to his fiance - and with it, work for his father-in-law's prestigious law firm... although he loves the work he does right now. One of his last cases is with Michael Jones (Richard Brooks), a crack dealer who is accused of shooting a cop in Central Park. Jones doesn't deny that he's a crack dealer, or that he shot the cop. What he does deny, though, is that he shot the cop for no reason. Jones calls the cop he shot a 'blue jeans cop', but doesn't say anything more when pressed by Dalton.

Needing to find out more about what that means, Dalton seeks his friend, Richie Marks (Elliott), a burned out cop who lives in an old movie theater, sleeping in one of the back rows and brushing his teeth in the theater bathroom. When Dalton tries to get Marks to tell him what a 'blue jeans cop' is, Marks warns him against pushing too hard. A 'blue jeans cop', it turns out, is a cop who doesn't identify himself as such. Instead, the cop who bothered Jones in the park that night was trying to get Jones' money. Jones himself said that he deals with crooked cops all the time - all the cop needed to do was talk to Jones, and Jones would have let the cop and his dealer work things out. Instead, the cop pulled a gun and tried to shoot Jones.

As all this is going on, two other developments are taking place at the same time. Marks continues to try and make major busts against the major drug baron of the city, but is frustrated by fellow cops on the take and the drug baron's ability to pull $1 million in cash on a moment's notice to make bail when he is caught. Dalton, for his part, is caught defending Jones against Susan Cantrell - a former girlfriend whom he still has feelings for. Susan tries to convince Dalton that working for the public is what he really wants to do, instead of working for some corportae lawyer firm.

As Dalton continues digging for evidence to help him defend Jones, he finds out of the existence of an audio recording of the fateful night - Jones, when confronted with the 'blue jeans cop', stopped playing his rap tape and instead pressed the record button, recording the fact that the cop, indeed, tried to shoot Jones first. While trying to get his hands on the tape, Dalton is caught and nearly killed by the crooked cops working for the drug baron. Dalton is saved at the last moment by Marks, and the two of them race to the court to get the tape admitted as evidence - even though part of the tape was burned by the cops. Thanks to Dalton's defence, though, Jones still is acquitted of murder. Dalton is then met with Marks, as the two of them race to the airport, where the drug baron and the crooked cops are planning on making a getaway to the Caribbean. They get there as the private plane is taking off, and Marks manages to climb onto the wheel of the plane, planting a grenade in the plane, then shooting the inside to force the plane to go lower, where he jumps into the bay below. As the plane taxis back onto the runway, the plane blows up.

Dalton then confronts his fiance's family at a big dinner, where he prepares to tell them that he's breaking up with his fiance. The next scene sees Dalton back walking among the street criminals, looking for the next guy he needs to defend.

[edit] Tagline

  • Whatever you do...don't call the cops!
  • An underpaid lawyer. An overworked cop. In a city where everyone is for sale, they're the best money can buy.

[edit] Trivia

  • Parts of the movie were made depicting the West Side Elevated Highway, including the culmination of a chase scene that ended when a car falls off the edge of the unfinished highway.

[edit] Selected cast

[edit] External links