Underrated Manly Movies: Part VIII
52 PICK UP (1986)
This movie was reviewed by AlTeo last year (review here) but I think it needs to get another bump, because it’s both underrated and lesser known. Here is an outline:
I think this film, which turns 30 this November, has been sorely overlooked for far too long. 46% on Rotten Tomatoes with only 13 reviews? And a 6.4 out of 10 on IMDb with less than 3,500 votes? Get outta here. This should have been an 8.0 at the very least. It stars Roy Scheider, an actor who instantly makes a movie better just by being in it. It’s produced by Cannon Films, which gave us the “Ninja”, “Death Wish” and “Delta Force” films, as well as “Cobra”. It’s co-written by the late Elmore Leonard, adapting his own novel here to good use. And it’s directed by the late, great John Frankenheimer, who needs no introduction. This film has four good things going for it, delivers them all confidently, and gets swept under the rug? Hollywood sure is a strange place.
Don’t expect this movie to be remade, at least not in the way that it was written originally.
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