By Gayne C. Young
Reel Man Rewatch looks at the movies from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s that defined what it means to be a man. Today’s entry is “Sharky’s Machine.”
What’s It About?
Based on the novel of the same name by William Diehl, “Sharky’sMachine” follows the trials and tribulations of Atlanta police sergeant Tom Sharky. And many trials and tribulations does he experience.
After Sharky, played by Burt Reynolds, gets a few people killed in a drug bust gone bad he’s demoted from Narcotics to Vice, where he quickly stumbles across a web of crime that involves the mob, high-scale prostitution, and the man most likely to win the Georgia’s governor race. Sharky’s not going to let that happen, so he forms a “machine” of men to assist him.
When I Saw It
Despite the fact that the movie was rated a hard R for sex, nudity, drug usage, prostitution, and violence, my mother decided to take my 12-year-old self to this flick when it opened in 1981. To make things even more uncomfortable, she had her parents take us and brought along my younger sister. My grandfather agreed to go because he liked Burt Reynolds. My grandmother agreed to go for nefarious reasons.
Those reasons became apparent on the car ride home when, in her major passive aggressive way, she asked my grandfather why he thought my mother would take her children to witness such filth.
“That picture show was nothing but bloodshed, murder, and wanton sex. Burt Reynolds had two fingers chopped off by Orientals and that Frenchman put his face in that harlot’s crotch!”
“Mother, please don’t say harlot …”
“What?! In front of your children? Really? You can take them to watch such filth on the big screen, but I dare not mention it? And you wonder why your marriage failed.”
I wasn’t sure how my mother taking me to see “Sharky’sMachine” was responsible for my father having extra-marital affairs years earlier (again, I was only 12), but I always enjoyed my grandmother’s toxic takedowns of my mother.
The Rewatch
I rented “Sharky’sMachine” last week on Amazon Prime.
It holds up. Greatly.
It’s a tightly wound neo-noir, action thriller that showcases Burt in his tough-as-nails persona. This is the keeps-his-feelings-close-to-his-vest Burt and not the wacky comedic Burt of car chase movies galore that would follow. And it was a good fit for Burt. Burt is Sharky, and Sharky is an early prototype to the male action leads that cinema would see in the years to come.
Supporting actors Brian Keith (Papa), Charles Durning (Friscoe), and Bernie Casey (Arch) make a tight knit crew which shows the tension and humor of police life. Vittorio Gassman is a great slimeball of a mafioso, Henry Silva is fantastic as a drug-dependent, psycho assassin named Billy Score, and Rachel Ward as a high-class, $1,000-per-night prostitute Dominoe is absolutely stunning.
Man Lessons
Again, Sharky is a no-nonsense male archetype. He chain-smokes cigarettes and slams bottles of Bud while not talking about his feelings or wants. He takes his demotion to Vice as a challenge rather than as setback and decides to do the best he can as a cop and a man. He protects the woman he loves and does his best to see justice delivered. In short, Sharky’s a man who takes care of his own and those around him.
Sharky also exhibits a softer side when he tells Dominoe of his buying his childhood home to refurbish it and of his love of watching children play in the park across the street from his house.
Good lessons to be sure.
Although those last two were probably confessed just so he could sleep with her.
Best Scenes
- The beginning of the film drug bust gone bad is early 1980’s action at its best. It’s gritty, chaotic, violent, and completely practical. There’s no CGI and the stunts are amazing. Sharky goes Colt Python .357 Magnum against the bad guy’s Smith & Wesson Model .44 Magnum and wins big time.
- Rachel Ward as Dominoe had the kind of beauty and body that turns everyman religious. Yes, there is a God and he did that. Praise Jesus.
- The score is epic with plenty of mood-setting jazz scores orchestrated by Doc Severinsen of“The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”
- Sharky plugs the main bad guy rather than allowing him to commit suicide. This vaults said bad guy out the hotel window and to the Atlanta streets some 220 feet below in a record setting stunt at the time.
Woke Alerts
“Sharkey’s Machine” features plenty of racist language, homophobia, the gratuitous exploitation of the female form, shoot outs, bloodletting, torture, and more. Oh, hell yeah!
Bottom Line
“Sharky’s Machine” was a winner back in the day and holds up today. Sharky’s a man who gets things done while taking care of those around him. Grab a 12 pack and give it a watch.
