When we think of the infamous production company Cannon Films, we first think of adolescent bang-on excesses like “Delta Force”, “American Fighter”, “A Man Like Dynamite” or “The City Cobra”. Cannon’s reputation is certainly no coincidence, but time and time again they have been responsible for films that deviate from the banal action norm and have revealed themselves as immensely artistically ambitious. Good examples of this are “Express to Hell”, “Barfly”, “Cursed Amsterdam” or “52 Pick-Up”.
The latter bills itself as a bleak thriller, serving the Cannon Forge’s penchant for sensationalism, but with a gritty seriousness that sends a shiver down your spine from time to time. “52 Pick-Up” is not a cheap hit, but rather a child of 1970s cinema that somehow got the wrong decade. You want Routinier’s dark genre explosion John Frankenheimer (“Ronin”)? Then you get your money’s worth with a subscription to WOW (formerly Sky Ticket), because “52 Pick-Up” is available there for free.
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That’s what “52 Pick-Up” is all about
Harry Mitchell (Roy Scheider) can’t really complain. He has a great job, a fast car and an attractive wife (Ann-Margret) who is about to make a career in politics. In addition, Harry is having an affair with a considerably younger woman. But suddenly the situation changes after Harry is filmed during the extramarital affair and is now being blackmailed by three gangsters from the pornographic environment. But Harry thinks he’s smart enough to trick the blackmailers.
But before he could even wriggle out of the situation, it all backfired. The men brutally murder his lover on camera. They then threaten to charge him with filming the murder if he continues to refuse to pay the requested money. Suddenly, not only is his marriage on the line for Harry, but his whole life is in grave danger…
A thriller for adults
Arguably one of Cannon’s greatest strokes of luck is enlisting the services of John Frankenheimer, who seemed past his prime in the 1980s (“Ronin” would quash that suspicion in 1999), formerly distinguished by such classics as “The Prisoner of Alcatratz “, “Fear Ambassador”, “The Train” or the really good “French Connection 2” has made a name for itself as an excellent craftsman in the industry. Frankenheim is a stroke of luck because the director knows how to keep “52 Pick-Up” down to earth with the necessary seriousness.
The momentous descent into the pornographic milieu that Roy Scheider experiences in “52 Pick-Up” can be perceived atmospherically as mangy, but always keeps his distance from the exploitation of tourists, such as Joel Schumacher in “8MM – Eight millimeters”. Where “8MM” wants to shock by hook or by crook – and completely alien to the environment – is “52 Pick-Up” is an adult thriller that draws its strength from ambivalent personality structures. But that’s exactly why “52 Pick-Up” is a recommendation for all the “8MM” fans who loved the Nicolas Cage tearjerker when they were young.
That John Frankenheimer is a director of the old school is also evident from the fact that he takes his time to build up the story. It’s not until the characters are sufficiently introduced that the naked facts and violence make their way into the film – and in both cases, “52 Pick-Up” is no slouch. There’s even a sniff sequence where the camera is pointed at it – and not just for shock effect, but for narrative reasons as well. In any case, “52 Pick-Up” is cinema with hands and feet, the coarseness of which never seems to be an end in itself, but is made understandable in terms of content.
If only to show that Harry Mitchell is out of control. Roy Scheider, always a bit underrated anyway and hardly anything to report in the late 1980s, is excellent as a cornered macho who swings back to counterattack because he has no other choice. It’s not just interesting how such a ridiculous amount can cause so much chaos. But also how much both parties (Harry and the gangsters) insist on being the winners of the case in the end. So “52 Pick-Up” also becomes a reckoning with male egos.