Literally Speaking: 52 Pick-Up
After a couple of weeks break from watching (and writing about) films (bar a couple of visits to the cinema, which I’ll hopefully go into in more detail elsewhere) it’s time to get stuck in to that pile of DVDs again.
For most men having their wives discover they’ve been playing away from home tops the list of worst case scenarios but successful businessman Harry Mitchell (Roy Scheider) has bigger worries, like blackmail and murder.
John Frankenheimer’s adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel (with a script co-written by the author) is a by the numbers thriller that could be an ‘80s TV movie but for two things - a first rate cast and copious amounts of naked flesh.
The nudity garners the film an 18 certificate while the cast adds a touch of class. Roy Scheider is as solid as ever as the married man tempted by a younger woman. Scheider’s Mitchell is a regular guy, albeit one with a financially lucrative business, and he makes you sympathise with the character far more than Michael Douglas did in a similar role in Fatal Attraction. Ann-Margret is decent enough as his wife although she does get one unintentionally funny scene where she chases Scheider and a late night intruder as they wrestle round the house, all the time keeping a torch on them to allow the viewer to see what’s going on. I was half expecting her to get a credit for Lighting at the end of the film! It’s John Glover’s porn entrepreneur/blackmailer/kidnapper/murderer who steals the film, with the actor positively oozing sleaze.
Frankenheimer keeps the film moving along fast enough that you don’t dwell too much on the silliness of certain elements. The eighties wasn’t a great decade for the revered director and this was probably the best film he produced. A sticker on the DVD proclaims this as “from the director of Ronin” proving that you’re only as good as your last hit, who cares that he turned out a string of classics in the ‘60s?
Adding to the dated feel of the film is the synthesiser score, which is sub-Tangerine Dream quality, and the smattering of porn star cameos (Ron Jeremy, Tom Byron, Amber Lynn). One time Prince “protégé” Vanity displays her acting ability amongst other talents.
52 Pick-Up is a dated thriller from a director treading water that’s only elevated above mediocre by Roy Scheider and John Glover.
