Sharky's Machine

On the surface SHARKY'S MACHINE is just another crime thriller come star vehicle with the slight gimmick that its star also directs the film . Truth be told Burt Reynolds isn't the greatest actor of his generation but he does have a certain manliness that served him well throughout his career . Likewise as a director there's nothing outstanding here but by the same token it's certainly more than competent . The film is certainly helped by its setting and 1970s cinema is a highpoint of American film making and everything about the film screams 1970s , an era of great cynicism but one that Reynolds has successfully translated well to screen

It wasn't well in to the running time that I realised I was watching a film set in Atlanta because I thought the story was taking place in New York . In those days New York had a terrible reputation as a sleazy place where crime and vice was running out of control . Regardless as to the truth of all this even if you'd never visited the city you'd have images of dirty streets falling in to a state of disrepair and police stations full of hard bitten sarcastic cops interrogating hookers all day every day , a reputation that was probably reinforced by American film makers . Truth to be told Reynolds certainly plays up to this reputation

The film works best in the first third as Reynolds goes undercover to trap a drugs dealer only to see his hard and dangerous work ruined by a colleague and then finds himself being assigned to the vice squad where every enjoyable and amusing cliché is served up to the audience . Once the story starts where Reynolds cop investigates a beautiful call girl called Dominoe things start to fall apart slightly . As several people have mentioned already the film would have worked much better if several scenes had been trimmed or left out completely and the film would have been much better if it was a 90 minute film than a two hour one . As it stands it's an okay crime thriller but you'll probably enjoy it more if you can remember the 1970s

I have always been a huge Burt Reynolds fan, I've always admired his humility and his way of engaging with the audience be it as actor or Director.

The film opens to the enchanting tones of Randy Crawford signing Street life, incidentally the film ends on a duet to what closely must resemble the sound of the emasculation of two cats with a blunt knife.

Anyway Sharky is demoted to Vice when 'he' messed up a drug bust. Down in Vice is where we meet the gang who all add wonderful dimensions to this film and each shines in his role, Charles Durning is hilarious he screams with such intensity you really become concerned for his blood pressure.

Just when it looks like Vice might be boring a whole can of worms opens up when they begin to stake out some 'High class' call girls (the stake out is a little long almost in real time), the plot involves a puppet politician and the puppet master played amazingly by the one and only Vittorio Gassman.

Sharky starts to fall for 'Dominoe' (gorgeous but she's gotta give up the cigarettes she sounds like the Bouvier sisters from the Simpsons) one of the 'High Class' call girls, incidentally Burt Fell for another 'High Class' call girl in 'Hustle'.

Burt was very generous with the script he gave some of the best stuff to the supporting cast, in actual fact sometimes through the movie in his quest to build Sharky as the strong silent type the lack of script for himself turned Sharky into the strong boring type. This was very apparent when he was finally with Dominoe at his pad, he was pining around like a 13 year old. He couldn't string two words together he just looked bashful so bashful he almost looked mentally challenged, he did everything bar kicking his heels looking at the floor and saying "Gee golly I ain't never done kissed no girl be fower hu hulk".

In all it's a very entertaining film, it drags a bit here and there, but it always comes back to life and the last 30 minutes are a roller-coaster, watch out for Henry Silva who plays a whacked out hit man, my favorite scene is when he points his gun at Arch and…..

Vice copy (Burt Reynolds) falls for a high-price call girl (Rachel Ward) who's under the thumb of an underworld lord (Gassman). The storyline is highly improbable, has a VERY slow stretch with Reynolds watching Ward through binoculars, has tons of gunfights and gallons of blood. Also, very sleazy. Still, I was never really bored. I was in the mood for a stupid, violent movie and this delivered. Reynold is OK in the lead; Charles Durning is very funny as his boss (he basically walks around yelling and cursing--and enjoying it); Gassman is appropriately slimy as the underworld leader. Best of all is Ward--she is incredible gorgeous and gives this movie a much better performance than it deserves. Worth watching, solely for her.

"Sharky's Machine" is a very frustrating film to watch. On one hand you have a compelling storyline, good acting by an intriguing cast, and tough action. Unfortunately the bursts of violence are strung together by some of the most tedious sequences ever. The surveillance of Rachael Ward goes on and on until it becomes nothing but a damn annoyance, and there are numerous other scenes that could have been trimmed or eliminated. If "Sharky's Machine" were re-edited down to 90 minutes it would be a far superior film. I realize this is never going to happen, so I suggest living with the fast forward button and doing your own re-editing. - MERK

Sharky's Machine finds Burt Reynolds as a narcotics cop who after a failed buy and bust that wasn't his fault, but that got a few people killed in it, he finds himself demoted to the vice squad in Atlanta.

The prestige is hardly as good as the narcotics beat, but it does have its fringe benefits. One night after a roundup of working girls where one of their books falls into their hands, the guys ask for surveillance on Rachel Ward's place. She's an expensive item, servicing both notorious mobster Vittorio Gassman and law and order gubernatorial candidate Earl Holliman.

Their surveillance however records a murder and the rest of the film is Sharky and his new colleagues from vice trying to solve this prestige case.

Though it's a Burt Reynolds film and those usually have some humor to them, the comedy is kept in check as the film turns as deadly serious as Dirty Harry. It was reported in fact that Clint Eastwood was offered this film.

Look for some good performances by fellow vice cops Bernie Casey and Brian Keith and by Henry Silva the coked up brother of Gassman who does the dirty work of the organization and loves his job.

It's not a bad film, a mixture of Dirty Harry and Laura. Why Laura? You'll have to see Sharky's Machine for that answer.