Review of Shakedown

The story is goofy but enjoyable and also disjointed. Weller is a legal aid lawyer about to sell out to Wall Street because he is marrying money, and Elliott is an honest cop living in a theater who is estranged from his wife. Weller and Elliott know each other - they are friends with a history, it seems - but why that is the case is never explained. They actually have good chemistry together. Weller catches a case where his client is innocent of murdering a cop; the client is a drug dealer who shot the dishonest cop in self- defense. Elliott works with the same band of dishonest cops that this cop belonged to. Somehow these cops are involved with a gangster - an African-American hip gangster because it is the '80s - who they initially raid but later they work with for no reason that is ever explained. When action is required, the bad guys open fire on innocent bystanders and explosions ensue with no concern for the safety of anyone.

The story line is disjointed. There are leaps of story-telling, e.g., why does Weller think it is such a brilliant idea to break into the police headquarters rather than asking Elliott to get the evidence? Who knows, it just happens. And how does ripping some wires off the back of a roller coaster cause it to jump the tracks? Again, stuff just happens. Peter Weller delivers a great role as a lawyer defending a young black drug dealer who was attacked by an off duty police officer because of the kids skin color. Shows a twist of corrupt cops and racism at it finest.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.