'52 Pick Up'

'52 Pick-Up' By Rita Kempley Washington Post Staff Writer November 07, 1986

Director:	John Frankenheimer
Cast:	Roy Scheider; Ann-Margret; Vanity; John Glover; Clarence Williams III; Kelly Preston
	Under 17 restricted

"52 PICK-UP is "Death Wish" for yuppies, with Roy Scheider as a tough-minded businessman who neglects to install a burglar alarm and thus finds himself in mortal combat with an evil MBA from Northwestern. This gruesome tale of greed and extortion, which costars Ann-Margret, Vanity, John Glover and Clarence Williams III, is the latest thriller from gore-getters Golan and Globus.

Just as his wife's political career takes off, Scheider is videotaped in delicto flagrante and blackmailed by a vicious gang of porn peddlers, led by Glover. When Scheider, a self-made man, refuses to give in to the extortionists, he is forced to watch a snuff video featuring the murder of his mistress. The killers use Scheider's own gun, but this CEO still doesn't cave in to these brutal bozos. The Bronson of the boardroom takes his corporate cunning into the streets, and shows them who's boss.

Director John Frankenheimer of "The French Connection II" never misses a chance to exploit sex or violence in this taut, tacky, t&a adaptation of an Elmore Leonard best-seller. Since it's set against a backdrop of cheap sex shops and strip joints, Frankenheimer is happy as a pig in a dumpster. But all the slime and grime can't camouflage the sameness of this standard, divide-and-conquer story.

The cast is slumming, but enjoying it, with Ann-Margret as the cheated wife, and the comely Vanity as part of the comely scenery. Scheider is solid as the adventure capitalist, and Glover, who won an Emmy for his role as an AIDs patient in TV's "An Early Frost," is your basic creepy crackpot. Williams is the most menacing as a dreadlocked ex-con, gone from "Mod Squad" to "Slob Squad."

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