Always respected Ebert's perspectives greatly, whilst not always agreeing, but boy oh boy, he was generous to a fault with James Glickenhaus's Shakedown/ Blue Jean Cop. To describe it as a (very) poor man's Lethal Weapon is probably paying it a compliment. Lethal Weapon has Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Richard Donner directing from a very coherent Shane Black script. Shakedown has Sam Elliot (always an asset), Peter Weller (arguably miscast in the central role) and the big difference, Glickenhaus directing from his own script* (* and doesn't it show).
Let's deal with the positives first. As mentioned it has Elliot as the second lead, who never fails to have a compelling presence. It also has a pretty solid support cast. For instance John C McGinley, coming from Oliver Stones's Platoon where he shone, shows up in what turns out to be little more than an entertaining cameo. The cinematography, particularly of the many New York locations is first class (no jerky cam here). And there is a reasonable soundtrack happening, which serves to enhance the onscreen action. Weller in my opinion is kind of marginal. I didn't mind him in the (surprisingly plentiful) courtroom scenes, which coincidentally I thought were the best part of the movie. But overall, I just got the sense he never really fully committed to his role as Dalton, a jaded legal aid defender, who teams with a veteran cop (Elliot) to find out the truth in a possible police corruption scandal.
My main issue with Shakedown is Glickenhaus's script and the way he has constructed the movie around it. This is one hell of a garbled, disconnected picture, where you just straight out are expected to believe the unbelievable. Elliot's Richie Marks is a loner NYPD narcotics agent who besides seemingly living as some sort of vagrant (in a fleapit of a working cinema??), operates out of a police station, where virtually all his fellow cops it seems are dirty. Do we ever actually find out how Dalton and Marks have a working relationship? No! It just appears pre - ordained. Dalton's sub - story involving fiancee/girlfriend clashes just seems to belong to a different sort of film. The regular staging of action scenes appear to be totally contrived, are not particularly well choreographed and don't always seem to integrate into the ongoing narrative. A case in point ... and there are plenty, believe me. The hit men/muggers (lol! Who were they?) who tried to rub out/mug Marks in plain sight at Coney Island or wherever, when he was fishing (??). The total lack of security apparently at Le Guardia airport, where anybody it seems can drive on in and onto the tarmac and what happens thereafter, where Arnold Schwarzenegger's Commando movie appears to have provided much inspiration.
I could go on, but I'm sure you grasp the idea. Shakedown has the seed of a half way decent film, that wasn't allowed to grow into something substantial. It's a routine 80's action vehicle, in which the plot is forced to provide for some completely absurd stunts and set pieces, which is the primary reason the whole film ends up being unremarkable. It could have and should have been so much better.
Let's deal with the positives first. As mentioned it has Elliot as the second lead, who never fails to have a compelling presence. It also has a pretty solid support cast. For instance John C McGinley, coming from Oliver Stones's Platoon where he shone, shows up in what turns out to be little more than an entertaining cameo. The cinematography, particularly of the many New York locations is first class (no jerky cam here). And there is a reasonable soundtrack happening, which serves to enhance the onscreen action. Weller in my opinion is kind of marginal. I didn't mind him in the (surprisingly plentiful) courtroom scenes, which coincidentally I thought were the best part of the movie. But overall, I just got the sense he never really fully committed to his role as Dalton, a jaded legal aid defender, who teams with a veteran cop (Elliot) to find out the truth in a possible police corruption scandal.
My main issue with Shakedown is Glickenhaus's script and the way he has constructed the movie around it. This is one hell of a garbled, disconnected picture, where you just straight out are expected to believe the unbelievable. Elliot's Richie Marks is a loner NYPD narcotics agent who besides seemingly living as some sort of vagrant (in a fleapit of a working cinema??), operates out of a police station, where virtually all his fellow cops it seems are dirty. Do we ever actually find out how Dalton and Marks have a working relationship? No! It just appears pre - ordained. Dalton's sub - story involving fiancee/girlfriend clashes just seems to belong to a different sort of film. The regular staging of action scenes appear to be totally contrived, are not particularly well choreographed and don't always seem to integrate into the ongoing narrative. A case in point ... and there are plenty, believe me. The hit men/muggers (lol! Who were they?) who tried to rub out/mug Marks in plain sight at Coney Island or wherever, when he was fishing (??). The total lack of security apparently at Le Guardia airport, where anybody it seems can drive on in and onto the tarmac and what happens thereafter, where Arnold Schwarzenegger's Commando movie appears to have provided much inspiration.
I could go on, but I'm sure you grasp the idea. Shakedown has the seed of a half way decent film, that wasn't allowed to grow into something substantial. It's a routine 80's action vehicle, in which the plot is forced to provide for some completely absurd stunts and set pieces, which is the primary reason the whole film ends up being unremarkable. It could have and should have been so much better.