52 Pick-Up Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

52 Pick-Up Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf February 13, 2015

Before the great Elmore Leonard adaptation explosion of the 1990s, bringing the likes of “Get Shorty,” “Out of Sight,” and “Jackie Brown” (based on his novel, “Rum Punch”) to the big screen, there were slim pickings when it came to authoritative productions using the author’s colorful and threatening literary world. 1986’s “52 Pick-Up” makes a game attempt to commit Leonard’s universe of tough guys and big problems to celluloid, even attracting John Frankenheimer as a director -- perhaps the most leathery moviemaker working at the time. Even armed with surefire elements of sleaze and underworld chicanery, “52 Pick-Up” barely registers a heartbeat, stumbling through a confused narrative that strives to examine a man facing the biggest mistake of his life, but ends up detailing the actions of three impossibly idiotic thugs, which throws off the intensity of the effort. Select scenes crackle with tension, and star Roy Scheider does his professional duty to make his character appear together when he’s actually falling apart, but this isn’t steady work from Frankenheimer, who’s lost in the particulars of porn and criminal buffoonery, never achieving necessary suspense.

Harry (Roy Scheider) is a steel engineer on the verge of a chemical breakthrough in the industry. His wife, Barbara (Ann-Margret), has been asked to run for city council, solidifying her climb up the political ladder. While the future seems bright for the couple, Harry’s cheating ways have finally caught up with him, hit with a blackmail scheme orchestrated by Alan (John Glover), Bobby (Clarence Williams III), and Leo (Robert Franks). Threatening to ruin Harry’s life with a videotape revealing his dalliance with stripper Cini (Kelly Preston), the trio demands a small fortune in exchange for the evidence, putting their target in a difficult position. Unwilling to pay but careful to keep Barbara out of harm’s way, Harry sets out to discover the true identity of his blackmailers, using assistance from Cini’s friend, Doreen (Vanity), to help acquire clues. When threats turn into evildoing, with the baddies framing him for murder, Harry seeks revenge, setting out to save his marriage and make those coming after him pay for their crimes.

Leonard (who co-scripts with John Steppling) is never one to shy away from dingbat crooks, loving the contrast of malevolent might and stupidity, often nailing the mindset of the average opportunist with alarming accuracy. However, “52 Pick-Up” is a grim picture, humorless and seedy, making the doofy actions of Alan and his cronies confusing while absorbing Frankenheimer’s tone. Clearly, these men are deadly, commencing a theatrical showcase of intimidation, torture, blackmail, and murder to keep Harry in line, hoping to come out the other end with a small fortune. Unfortunately, they aren’t a brainy team, working unsatisfying jobs in the adult entertainment business (the film features numerous cameos from porn stars of the day, including Ron Jeremy and Amber Lynn) as they hustle for cash. They also enjoy a taste for theatricality, with Alan imagined as a Joker-type villain, cackling his way through the plan, revealing a strange combination of spinelessness and confidence that makes him viewable from space, tenuously establishing Harry’s reluctance to take this volatile situation to anyone besides his lawyer. The story sets a mood for sinister business conducted by cunning thugs, but “52 Pick-Up” loses interest in steely attitudes quickly, soon becoming a mutual hunt between an intelligent, connected man and the Three Stooges.

With Frankenheimer flattening idiosyncrasy, “52 Pick-Up” becomes a stale game of one-upmanship, peppered with odd, tonally stillborn scenes that detract from any quest for tension. One encounter between Barbara and Alan, who’s broken into her house claiming to be a representative for an accounting service, is complete absurdity (she actually believes him), disposing of common sense to construct a meeting that doesn’t have any bearing on the outcome of the movie. Barbara’s saga ends up being the most truncated in the film, displaying obvious cuts to her subplot as an aspiring candidate, with Doug McClure hired to portray the district attorney, only to have his part snipped down to a cameo. In fact, “52 Pick-Up” seems shorn of many outside interests, edited to pump up Harry’s mission of vengeance, transforming the picture in a roughhouse display of threats and killings, losing a feeling of slow suffocation along the way.

Acting does save “52 Pick-Up” to a certain extent, with Scheider encouragingly unnerved as Harry, doing a fantastic job articulating the gradual decline of his patience and sense of security. Scenes of domestic disturbance with Ann-Margret also explore uncomfortable spaces the screenplay could use more of, watching Barbara contemplate her husband’s infidelity with a younger woman, finding the nymph’s age burning her more than any lustful act. The crooks overact aggressively, with Glover given no boundaries by the director, but Williams does a fine job with a thin role, emerging as the one villain Harry should authentically fear.

52 Pick-Up Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There's some obvious age to the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation, which doesn't provide a particularly fresh viewing experience. Aside from some pronounced speckling and minor banding, crush emerges periodically throughout the picture, smothering frame information in a few sequences. Colors look a tad flat but remain true to their sources, with an adequate read of reds emerging from bloodshed and blazing neon during visits to adult establishments. Sharpness is only passable (grain being more noisy than textured), best with pained close-ups, and detail is generally acceptable with set decoration.

52 Pick-Up Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix does benefit from a heavier score, featuring compelling synth throbs that enliven the action, preserving an atmosphere of suspense. Dialogue exchanges are suitable for this type of low-budget entertainment, with nothing lost as emotions burst due to pressure, keeping within a comfortable range despite thinness. Sound effects, from gunplay to explosions, are adequate, lacking distinct detail. A slight presence of hiss is detected, but it's nothing distracting.

52 Pick-Up Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:44, HD), which contains a few deleted scenes, is included.

52 Pick-Up Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Instead of tying up loose ends with intelligence, forcing Harry to pay for his sins, the conclusion of "52 Pick-Up" transforms into a cartoon, with Alan playing the Snidely Whiplash part, essentially tying Barbara to train tracks as a way to spur her fatigued husband into action. It's an unfortunate close to a movie with potential, viewed through select scenes of Harry's torment and his misguided but satisfying pushback when it comes to the demands of his blackmailers, eventually turning them against one another. Frankenheimer doesn't seem interested in the nail-biting aspects of the material, showing more concentration on the feature's sleazier side, filling the picture with topless encounters and graphic murders. It renders this Leonard adaptation decidedly unpleasant, taking the zip out what appears to be a fairly clean design of comeuppance and paranoia.