52 Pick-Up (1986) Cannon/Action-Thriller RT: 111 minutes Rated R (language, violence, some graphic nudity, some sexual content, drugs) Director: John Frankenheimer Screenplay: Elmore Leonard and John Steppling Music: Gary Chang Cinematography: Jost Vacano Release date: November 7, 1986 (US) Cast: Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret, Vanity, John Glover, Robert Trebor, Clarence Williams III, Kelly Preston, Lonny Chapman, Doug McClure, Alex Henteloff. Box Office: $5.1M (US)
Rating: *** ½
The crime drama 52 Pick-Up, an adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel by John Frankenheimer (Black Sunday), contains one of the best lines I’ve ever heard. It occurs when Roy Scheider confronts John Glover’s villain for the first time face-to-face. He smacks him around and says, “There’s something about your face that makes me want to slap the s*** out of it!” Tough guy dialogue this cool could only come from a character in an Elmore Leonard story.
It’s easy to understand why audiences weren’t exactly enthralled by 52 Pick-Up in ’86. It was billed as an action movie, but it’s really not. The characters don’t engage in the OTT exploits typically displayed by the likes of Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Norris. It takes place in a universe where violence is still shocking and unpleasant and people express panic and fear in knowing they’re in over their heads. Frankenheimer, working from a screenplay by Leonard and John Steppling, immerses his characters in a world of sleaze and amoral behavior. He also provides us with one of the most vile, reprehensible villains you’re ever likely to encounter. That would be Alan Raimy (Glover, The Evil That Men Do), the slimy pornographer trying to blackmail our hero with an incriminating videotape. This guy doesn’t walk into a room, he slithers in. He is the very definition of “creep”.
Successful industrialist Harry Mitchell (Scheider, All That Jazz) has it pretty good. He lives in a big house with his wife Barbara (Margret, The Cincinnati Kid) who’s just announced her candidacy for city council. His happiness is threatened when three unknown individuals hold him at gunpoint and threaten to show a videotape of him with his young mistress Cini (Preston, Secret Admirer) to his wife unless he pays them $105,000. He can’t go to the police because it would destroy his wife’s political aspirations, so he decides instead to come clean with her about the affair thereby neutralizing their threat.
Not easily deterred, the criminals up the ante by murdering Cini on video and framing Harry for it. The new offer is this, $105,000 a year for life or they’ll release the fabricated evidence to the police. Still not wanting to bring the police into it, Harry conducts his own investigation. The trail leads him to Raimy and his two accomplices, sex club owner Leo (Trebor, My Demon Lover) and drug-addled pimp Bobby Shy (Williams, The Mod Squad). Now that he knows who he’s dealing with and they know he knows, Harry sets about turning the tables against them.
I think the main problem with 52 Pick-Up is that it was made in the wrong decade. It feels more like a 70s movie (the book was published in ’74) although it definitely has a 40s film noir flavor too. I didn’t fully appreciate it when it first came out because, like most people, I had certain expectations that weren’t met. My opinion changed when I rewatched it in summer ’92. I no longer cared that it didn’t move at lightning speed. It’s an adult crime drama with not-so-upright characters in an increasingly desperate situation. On one side of the coin, you have an ordinary businessman who did something immoral and stupid. On the other, you have a well-dressed sleazebag exploiting the businessman’s bad judgment call. It’s a battle of wits and wills as Harry methodically turns Raimy and his dimwitted accomplices, a whimpering sycophant and a violent street hood, against each other.
They say a movie is only as good as its villain. 52 Pick-Up is made so by Glover but what can I say about him and his performance and I haven’t already. Raimy is in my top ten Sleaziest Bad Guys. The rest of the cast is great too. Scheider, an actor I’ve always liked, is good as a hero that isn’t exactly upstanding. He has a relatable quality that makes him an ideal lead in a movie like 52 Pick-Up. Ann-Margret shows she’s fully capable of playing dramatic characters with her performance here. She strikes the right balance between anger and hurt over her husband’s indiscretion. The scene where Harry tells her about his affair is especially effective mainly due to her. Vanity (The Last Dragon) has some good scenes as a prostitute who provides Harry with crucial information. As always, she’s HOT! Williams positively oozes menace and danger as Bobby Shy, a dirtbag who makes up for his lack of intelligence with a taste for sadistic violence.
Leonard has a gift for terse dialogue and colorful characters. It really shows in 52 Pick-Up, a solid adaptation of his own novel. Frankenheimer saturates it with genuine suspense and gritty, bare-fisted action. I’d even say it’s one of his best movies. He makes great use of the sleazy criminal underworld, a place marked by sex clubs, porno theaters and parties with topless attendees. It has a few pacing issues, but Frankenheimer compensates with a really cool ending. I wish they still made them like this.
