52 Pick-Up (1986)

"You're After Something Aren't You?" ~ The Consequences Of One Little Mistake

If you like brutal, urban drama dealing with such dubious subject matters as; infidelity, pornography, blackmail and murder you should love '52 Pick-Up' starring Roy Schneider, Ann-Margaret, Kelly Preston, Vanity and a few other familiar faces. Released in '86 this hard hitting, uncompromising depiction of the underbelly of society is definitely not wholesome family entertainment. Of course it wasn't designed for that target audience.

'52 Pick-Up contains a well thought out storyline, numerous excellent performances and a good mix between action and dialogue. If you're looking for something, intense, edgy and dark this is the film for you. July 5, 2008

Crime comes to L.A.

Exciting movie that keeps you guessing until the end. Characters are well developed. Plot is interesting and clear. July 23, 2007

Ahead of it's time

At the time this movie came out, Roy Scheider already looked an old man - especially seeing him now, starts me wondering what's his age now, anyway. Still, his acting performance is almost a classic one and Ann Margret is cast excellently as his wife that he betrayes.
True, some scenes are a little out of date now. They show that movie making has grown since but that's not always an improvement if you ask me. The specific scene where they put Scheider under pressure with a little home movie still is impressively nasty. And even Vanity - what has become of her, by the way? - puts up a nice performance as a very believable key person in the story.
This movie is about making the wrong decision(s) after making the wrong moves with the wrong people, almost a classical Hollywood theme. But it does just that in an artistic and stylish way with excellent actors and I have to add that it's a very good and entertaining movie that kept me glued to the screen then. And still like to watch it, now. Recommended. July 15, 2007

Leonard and Frankenheimer get down and dirty

52 Pick-Up was one of the few rays of light in the dark days when every screen adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel would go horribly wrong and when John Frankenheimer's name on the credits wasn't exactly a guarantee of quality any more, although it sank quickly due to a botched marketing campaign (the producers decided to play up the good reviews by touting it as `The best film this season from Cannon,' which is a bit like boasting about having the least contagious form of VD). A riff on his earlier Western The Tall T, this sees businessman Roy Scheider set up by a trio of blackmailers who, not taking kindly to him confessing his affair to his wife rather than pay up, murder his girlfriend with his gun so as not to miss out on their payday, only for Scheider to turn them against each other. While it's no Out of Sight, it's an effectively seedy L.A. thriller with a couple of outstanding supporting turns by John Glover and a seriously mucked-up and dangerous Clarence Williams III.

No extras at all, but it does have a decent 1.85:1 widescreen transfer. June 20, 2007

interested in a jag

52 pick up is a tightly woven film noir that builds the suspense right from the outset. Harry and Barbara
Mitchell (Roy Scheider and Ann Margret) play an upscale professional couple in their mid fifties. Harry owns a steel manufacturing business while Barbara is an evironmental oversight board chairman with political connections. As the film begins Harry is sandbagged by three individuals who entrap him with a video showing
him in an extramarital affair with a young woman named Cinny. (Kelly Preston) As the blackmail scenario
unfolds. Harry is ordered to pay a large sum of money by the ringleader of the trio. Alan Raimey (John Glover)
with sidekicks Leo Franks (Robert Trebor) and Bobby Shy. (Clarence Williams III) After informing his lawyer
Jim O'Boyle, (Lonny Chapman) Harry decides not to be intimidated and dismiss the trio as folly. As the story moves along Harry and Barbara develop a determination to deal with the trio. As in the tradition of original film noir Harry and Barbara are trapped in a Catch 22 scenario with the lowly trio. Frankenheimer builds up the intensity and gets excellent performances from the entire cast.
John Glover is superb as the homoerotic protagonist Alan Raimey as well as Robert Trebor and Clarence
Williams III as the other two components of the trio. Alan's psychosis becomes a fulcrum for destruction.
Meanwhile Bobby Shy's girlfriend Doreen (Vanity) cuts both sides of the fence with equal disdain for Harry and Bobby while concealing the triangle that has developed between Harry, Cinny, and herself. The scenes are fastmoving with crisp and candid dialogue. Frankenheimer holds nothing back with realism and taut direction. This film takes one on an emotional rollercoaster with no gimmicks from start to finish. 52 Pick Up
is a great example of modernist flim noir and I believe that is an excellent film. Transfer to dvd in widescreen format is excellent.
Audio in 5.1 surround sound is really incredible and adds a new dimension
to the viewers experience. All of these factors engage the viewer
at an incredibly intense level. October 2, 2006

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