July 28, 2017
I’m gonna tell you a story. When I was a young high school
student, I had the opportunity to go to a movie premiere. It was going to be
held at The Fox Theatre, the beautiful old movie palace in Atlanta. The Fox was
fresh off a multi-million dollar renovation, and the movie premiere was going
to be a star-studded event. But, as fate would have it, my high school was in
the playoffs for the AAAA Division Championship. They had pulled out a couple
of miracles, and were set to go all the way. Wanna guess what night the game
was to be played?
You guessed it. The same night as the movie premiere. Well,
this writer flat-out said he was going to the movie premiere, and damn any high
school football game. Well, lemme tell you, you woulda thought I had spit on
the American flag, burned a Bible, and took a dump on an apple pie. My friends
were FURIOUS with me for choosing a stupid movie over “COUGAR PRIDE!!!!” So, bowing to peer pressure, I let my seat go
at the premiere, and went to the game.
My team lost 42 – 12 in a freezing sleet storm… and I missed
going to the world premiere of Sharky’s Machine.
Yeah, some things stick with you. That one feels like it is
branded to my forehead…
Sharky’s Machine, based on the book by William Diehl, stars
Burt Reynolds, who also directed the movie. He plays Thomas Sharky, a narcotics
cop in Atlanta who is demoted to the Vice Squad after his incredibly stupid
buddy blows a major bust, the results of which gets a couple of people killed.
He accepts the demotion, but he damn sure ain’t happy about it.
He quickly finds himself involved in an investigation of a
high-priced prostitution ring, run by a mysterious man only known as “Victor.”
He gets his other vice cops behind him, forming a team (the title-mentioned “machine”)
to crack the case. His team is made up of a grizzled old veteran cop named
Poppa (the always-wonderful Brian Keith), a very metaphysical cop named Arch (Bernie
Casey), the head of the vice division, Lt. Friscoe (Charles Durning), and
Sharky’s friend Nosh, an expert in electronic surveillance (played by Richard
Libertini, from last night’s movie). Along the way, they are joined by
forensics expert Barrett, played by John Fiedler. 
When they manage to capture one of the prostitute’s murder
on film, the case becomes much more intriguing than they counted on. Adding to
this intrigue are the governor of the state, Donald Hoskins (Earl Holliman), a
gorgeous lady of the evening named Dominoe (yes, the spelling is important…),
played by the simply beautiful Rachel Ward, and a sincerely drugged-up hit man
named Billy, played by the always evil-looking Henry Silva. And did I mention Rachel Ward pretty much defines "breathtaking" in this movie?
Many people scoffed when it was announced that Reynolds was
going to direct himself, especially in a tough, no-nonsense crime thriller like
this. Reynolds was at the peak of his career, one built on movies like Smokey
And The Bandit, Hooper, White Lightning, and (one of my personal favorites of
his) The Longest Yard. All were box office hits, and Reynolds was the number
one star in the world. Why would he even think of leaving the formula of all
his hits to not only star in, but direct himself, in a gritty crime drama where
he can’t flash is magazine-cover smile and give his trademark laugh?
Well, I’m here to tell you, folks, Reynolds directed himself
in one of his best performances, and also directed one hell of a good movie.
There are no hiccups here, no crappy casting decisions, and no self-adoration shots
of himself looking studly. Instead, he almost steps back and becomes the
straight man to his other actors, letting them have the humorous scenes while
he stands back and does reaction shots. One scene in particular, he and Bernie
Casey are standing in a window, observing a prostitute’s apartment across the
street, talking about this and that. The subject comes up about being shot at,
and Casey starts telling a story about a time when a perp pulled a gun on him
and fired, but somehow missed every shot. Casey gets all Buddhist and mystical,
talking about how he felt himself vanish and move behind the perp, away from
the shooting, and re-appearing behind him. While this goes on, Reynolds, who
could have easily dome some facial mugging and stolen the scene, simply stands
there, occasionally glancing over at Casey with a “what the hell are you
talking about” look on his face. When the story is over, he allows himself an
eyebrow raise and a quick one-liner, but that’s it. It’s a very disciplined move
for Reynolds to make, given his recent roles as “funny clown.” 
I have to dance around a major plot point, for fear of
spoiling a major twist. Let’s say it this way. Sharky ends up in a plotline
much like the film Laura, the classic film directed by Otto Preminger. While
many view Sharky’s Machine as “Dirty Harry Goes to Atlanta,” Reynolds allows
himself to show a deep amount of emotion, something sadly missing from most of
his other movie roles, through this plotline. Again, it’s a brave decision, to
show his character as simply human rather than a super-cop who feels nothing
other than the need to blow criminals away and holster his gun with some silly
one-liner. And did I mention Rachel Ward is gorgeous? Oh... sorry...
A side note… while I did miss going to the premiere, I did
get to see the final stunt, a record-breaking (at the time) fall from the Hyatt
Regency Downtown. It took two hours of waiting behind barricades to legendary
stuntman Dar Robinson come crashing out of a window some 200 feet up and fall
to street level and hit a huge airbag. I have been fascinated by stunt work
ever since, and think it is a crime that there is not an Oscar category for
Best Stuntwork. Here endeth the soapbox preaching…
A second side note… very few movies these days have a
soundtrack like Sharky’s Machine did. From the opening scene, with Randy
Crawford and the Crusaders’ “Street Life” to the Julie London recording of “My
Funny Valentine,” and from Doc Severinsen’s incredible trumpet work on “High Energy”
to the INCREDIBLE Joe Williams’ “8 to 5 I Lose,” every song fits each scene it
is intended to like a glove. If you can find this soundtrack, buy it. I
guarantee you it will become a regular run on your playlists.
I know I am not telling a lot of details in this, but,
honestly, I can’t. I have sworn myself not to be a spoiler, and I will not
start now. Instead, go find Sharky’s Machine and watch it for yourself. If you
are a fan of well-made police dramas, crime thrillers, or both, you will be
beyond satisfied. Reynolds was never as good in a movie again, until Boogie
Nights finally earned him the Oscar nod he should have gotten for Sharky’s
Machine. Yes, I said it… and I meant it…
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