Shakedown

"In a city where everyone is for sale... They're the best money can't buy."

1988 1h 33m EN

😐

5.8

MID

🍅

70%

FRESH

⭐

IMDB

★5.8TMDB · 104🍅70%Rotten Tomatoes★6IMDB · 4,038

ActionCrimeDramaThrillerMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“In a city where everyone is for sale... They're the best money can't buy.”

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Cast

Peter Weller
Roland Dalton
Sam Elliott
Richie Marks
Patricia Charbonneau
Susan Cantrell
Antonio Fargas
Nicky 'N.C.' Carr
Blanche Baker
Gail Feinberger
John C. McGinley
Sean Phillips
Richard Brooks
Michael Jones
Jude Ciccolella
Patrick O'Leary

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: James Glickenhaus
Writers: James Glickenhaus, James Borrelli
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by James Glickenhaus, shot by John Lindley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jonathan Elias. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Paul Fried shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Peter Weller and Sam Elliott and Patricia Charbonneau carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In a city where everyone is for sale... They're the best money can't buy.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0096087 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James Glickenhaus directs. John Lindley behind the camera. Jonathan Elias scores. Paul Fried cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

138 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by James Glickenhaus, shot by John Lindley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Jonathan Elias. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Paul Fried shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Peter Weller and Sam Elliott and Patricia Charbonneau carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "In a city where everyone is for sale... They're the best money can't buy.".
7IMDB entry: tt0096087 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: John Lindley
Original score: Jonathan Elias
Editing: Paul Fried
Production design: Charles C. Bennett
Costume design: Peggy Farrell
Sound: Tom Fleischman
Stunt coordinator: Alan Gibbs
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000,000
Box office: $10,068,039
Return: 168% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Shakedown (1988)
Rotten Tomatoes: 70% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 6/10 · 4,038 votes
MPAA: R

Also by

James Glickenhaus

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Community reviews

What people are saying

kevin20192024-05-03
★ 2/10
"Shakedown" is much too unremarkable for its own good and obviously somebody somewhere must have realised this so in order to effectively remedy such an unwanted situation somebody somewhere has deemed it appropriate that the film ought to be modelled more upon the box office hit "Lethal Weapon" (1987). So this means we are frequently subjected to an assortment of deliberately eye catching action sequences and stunts. No problem there, you might think. After all, the sequences in question have been incredibly well executed and they do successfully enliven what is a generally unmemorable motion picture experience. However, they are also outrageously laughable and they unquestionably sabotage the more realistic qualities being striven for elsewhere. The film also isn't helped by the fact Peter Weller's and Sam Elliott's characters Roland Dalton and Richie Marks are so completely mismatched they actually look as though they belong in separate films and by bringing them together here leaves us with an unholy mess on our hands.

Production companies