Shakedown

Shakedown is a 1988 crime thriller set in New York City. A small-time drug dealer shoots a police officer and claims he acted in self-defense, insisting the dead man was a corrupt cop who robbed street dealers. Roland Dalton, an idealistic lawyer preparing to leave his practice behind, takes on the defense and cannot let the case go. His search for answers brings him to Richie Marks, an unorthodox undercover narcotics officer, and the two very different men end up working the investigation together. What begins as a single shooting expands into a network of greed and police corruption, and the pair find themselves exposed to people who want the matter buried.

James Glickenhaus directed and co-wrote the film with James Borrelli; it followed The Exterminator and The Protector in his filmography. Peter Weller plays Dalton and Sam Elliott plays Marks, with Patricia Charbonneau, Antonio Fargas, Blanche Baker and John C. McGinley in supporting roles.

Made for about 6 million dollars, the film returned roughly 10 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6 out of 10 from around 4,400 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 5.8 out of 10 from about 102 votes, a smaller sample. A critics' rating of 6.6 out of 10 comes from a handful of reviews, close to the audience scores.