Sharky's Machine (1981)

Good Solid Cop Thriller - Sharky's Machine review by GI

Basically Burt Reynolds' Dirty Harry movie in which he plays a tough, no-nonsense Atlanta narcotics detective who gets busted after an arrest goes wrong and sent to the lowly Vice Squad where he starts an investigation into top class prostitutes run by a fearsome mob boss. It's actually a very entertaining and occasionally quite a nuanced film with some gritty action set pieces including the opening chase shoot out scene and a realistic torture scene. Showing a softer side Reynolds cop also falls hopelessly in love with the woman he has under surveillance played deliciously by husky voiced Rachel Ward. Actually the romance aspects of the story work very well and while there are disappointments in one or two of the story's concluding routes especially the end of the big bad guy which is anti climactic to say the least, overall this is a cop thriller worthy of rediscovery. The cast are prestigious members of the American film world including Brian Keith, Charles Durning, Earl Holliman, John Fiedler and Vittorio Gassman, and all are on tremendous form aided by Bernie Casey. There's humour and well directed, by Reynolds, action sequences. A film to check out if you've never seen it.