"52 Pick-Up" is a 1986 thriller starring Roy Scheider and Ann-Margret, as a couple squeezed by ruthless blackmailers. Elmore Leonard co-authored its screenplay, in which Scheider's character attempts to turn the blackmailers against each other.

But the film spends a lot of time setting up its premise. ("There's no way in the world, once the story breaks, that you're going to keep it off the 6:00 news," Scheider's friend tells him.) Ann-Margret plays his politically ambitious wife, who is unaware of the tightening plot until halfway through the film. Instead the movie stays with Scheider's character, including an early scene where he's meeting his mistress. Besides showing two good-looking and charismatic movie stars, it gives the audience a chance to meet their hero in his own world. "52 Pick-Up" only gradually adds glimpses of the violent and seedy underworld he'll have to confront.

But the film's real personality came from Cannon Films, the notorious production company responsible for many low-budget action films in the 1980s. The same year Cannon released Chuck Norris's "Delta Force" and Sylvester Stallone's "Cobra," as well as "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2." (And they'd later be responsible "Death Wish 2" through "Death Wish 5.") "No other production organization in the world today has taken more chances with serious, marginal films than Cannon," Roger Ebert wrote in 1987.

To direct the film, Cannon brought in John Frankenheimer, who was nearly 60, and had been struggling with alcoholism. An expert at political thrillers, Frankenheimer coaxed an intense performance out of Scheider, and created an underworld that was seamy and credibly. (The blackmailers also dabble in pornography, and one scene of a sleazy sex party included real-life porn star Amber Lynn.)

The movie includes the typical ingredients of a thriller - thugs, a scandalous videotape, a briefcase full of money, and eventually an exploding car. When the bad guys attempt to pressure Scheider by framing him for murder, his back is against the wall - and the audience surprised and thrilled when he launches an unlikely plan to turn the tables.

Unfortunately, this movie was made on a low budget more than 20 years ago, so it lacks some punch. While it contains the parts of a good movie, they don't combine to create tension or excitement. Instead it's an exercise in crime fiction, with Scheider's character changing from a victim into his own violent avenger. The original book created an intriguing story - but it takes more than that to deliver a good movie.

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
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