52 PICK-UP

title: 52 PICK-UP

year: 1986

cast: Roy Scheider, John Glover, Ann-Margret

rating: ***

What feels like pure torture during the first half, as a well-off businessman is blackmailed by three of the most annoying goons in film history... including over-the-top John Glover as a flamboyant bully and Clarence Williams III as a psychopathic hit man... becomes rather intriguing as Roy Scheider, lean and broodingly capable as the revenge-seeking protagonist, plays each baddie against each other. This, a gritty, violent Golan/Globas production... known for their 1980's Charles Bronson vehicles... gives a slick, modern Film Noir vibe to the Elmore Leonard story of a flawed man's battle against some seemingly impossible, and often preposterous, odds. It can be downright trying, but stick with it.