Harry Mitchell (Roy Scheider) attracts three scumbags (John Glover, Robert Trebor, and Clarence Williams III) to blackmail him. Harry ignores their demands. The trio responds with extremely aberrant and abhorrent behavior and malice. What will Harry do when they start to threaten his wife?
The villainy between the three antagonists is believable and a visceral thrill. Roy Scheider makes the most out of a bland and passive main character. Cinematography feels naturalistic. Fans of Elmore Leonard novels may be impressed with "52 Pick-Up." Sadly, I am not impressed.
Typical of Cannon Films, the story wallows in sleaze and unintelligible character motivations. "52 Pick-Up" is sleazy because every actress is fetishized, beaten (Spoiler: Doreen portrayed by Vanity is suffocated for several nauseating minutes), or raped (Spoiler: The main villain injects heroin into Harry's wife and rapes her offscreen). The problem is that these scenes forget to provide meaning, context, and nuance. I hate the character motivations because the bad guys continuously show Harry that they mean business (they murder Harry's mistress and invade his house nonstop). What does Harry do? He holds a filibuster and berates these sociopathic criminals. Additionally, the film becomes overlong and the direction from John Frankenheimer lacks understanding. "52 Pick-Up" is enjoyable albeit completely disparaging.
The villainy between the three antagonists is believable and a visceral thrill. Roy Scheider makes the most out of a bland and passive main character. Cinematography feels naturalistic. Fans of Elmore Leonard novels may be impressed with "52 Pick-Up." Sadly, I am not impressed.
Typical of Cannon Films, the story wallows in sleaze and unintelligible character motivations. "52 Pick-Up" is sleazy because every actress is fetishized, beaten (Spoiler: Doreen portrayed by Vanity is suffocated for several nauseating minutes), or raped (Spoiler: The main villain injects heroin into Harry's wife and rapes her offscreen). The problem is that these scenes forget to provide meaning, context, and nuance. I hate the character motivations because the bad guys continuously show Harry that they mean business (they murder Harry's mistress and invade his house nonstop). What does Harry do? He holds a filibuster and berates these sociopathic criminals. Additionally, the film becomes overlong and the direction from John Frankenheimer lacks understanding. "52 Pick-Up" is enjoyable albeit completely disparaging.