Often described as 'Burt Reynolds does Dirty Harry',in reality it's a more ambitious film that somehow doesn't quite work. The elements are certainly there-Reynolds convincingly tough and serious as a cop who still manages a few Eastwood style one-liners,a good supporting cast who get good character moments,convincing villains including Henry Silva in full-on scary psycho mode,a superb and varied jazz score, lots of good things are in this film.
However,Reynolds seems uncertain what kind of film he is making, and fails to smooth out the shifts in tone. The film is far too slow moving for a cop thriller,some of the character stuff is unnecessary and causes the movie to almost grind to a halt. Much of the first half is full of lighthearted banter alternating with some very effective moments showing Reynolds falling in love with Rachel Ward as the high class hooker he is surveilling,Reynolds very good in these scenes. After this the film uses an important plot twist stolen from a certain classic film noir{won't say which one as I like to keep my reviews spoiler free!} and let's the love story move to the fore. Very unconvincingly,Reynolds and Wards go from fighting each other to loving each other in about three minutes. After this,we at last get to see some of the violent action that we have been expecting,including some brutal scenes involving two ninja assassins and a well staged and suspenseful shoot out in a high building.
Not really enough attention was paid to the plot of this film,leaving questions like- why are the villains killing off policemen? Why does Reynolds confront the main villain and then leave,thereby causing more of his team to be killed? In the final shootout where are all the other cops that are supposedly in the building? Sharky's Machine is overall a bit of a mess,but it does have it's interesting elements and effective moments. Just don't expect non stop action.
However,Reynolds seems uncertain what kind of film he is making, and fails to smooth out the shifts in tone. The film is far too slow moving for a cop thriller,some of the character stuff is unnecessary and causes the movie to almost grind to a halt. Much of the first half is full of lighthearted banter alternating with some very effective moments showing Reynolds falling in love with Rachel Ward as the high class hooker he is surveilling,Reynolds very good in these scenes. After this the film uses an important plot twist stolen from a certain classic film noir{won't say which one as I like to keep my reviews spoiler free!} and let's the love story move to the fore. Very unconvincingly,Reynolds and Wards go from fighting each other to loving each other in about three minutes. After this,we at last get to see some of the violent action that we have been expecting,including some brutal scenes involving two ninja assassins and a well staged and suspenseful shoot out in a high building.
Not really enough attention was paid to the plot of this film,leaving questions like- why are the villains killing off policemen? Why does Reynolds confront the main villain and then leave,thereby causing more of his team to be killed? In the final shootout where are all the other cops that are supposedly in the building? Sharky's Machine is overall a bit of a mess,but it does have it's interesting elements and effective moments. Just don't expect non stop action.