[blockquote align=”centre” author=”EfikoScore: 6/10″ style=”font-size: 30px”] The Shakedown has some really good jokes, but the Ari Kruger film never gets beyond the surface of its lead character. [/blockquote]
Justin Diamond (Carl Beukes) has two bright children and a wife who adores him. He also has a gleaming smile. This perfect picture helps sell his insurance packages. But he’s got a secret: a mistress whose only value to him is her enthusiasm for sex.
When his mistress reacts to their break-up by blackmailing him with a sex tape of theirs, Justin turns to his small-time-crime-boss-ex-convict big brother Dovi, yet another secret of his, to resolve the issue. The henchmen are supposed to threaten the mistress but they make a mess of the plan by attacking the wrong woman, who just happens to be the daughter of a big-time-mob-boss. Thus begins The Shakedown‘s comedy of errors.
In the opening scene, Dovi (Emmanuel Castis) chooses the dissecting and dismembering of a body, despite having never killed anyone before, while Justin argues in favour of calling the police, despite having done the shooting himself, an unmistakable advertisement for trouble. Many more of these clashes in perspective occur.
Yet, the film’s best jokes come from elsewhere. For example, in a situation involving a Rabbi in a bathroom. So, yes, there are jokes, but you can’t quite shake off the feeling that things could go a lot more smoothly.
For one, it’s not clear whether you’re supposed to like or dislike Justin. It’s obvious from the first few scenes that he’s something of a douchebag. When he winds up in trouble, that could be a good time for the character to elicit some pity but no. His every choice is selfishly motivated. Everything he has ever had is handed over to him. Every grace bestowed on him is unmerited.
His wife, Natalie (Julia Anastasopoulos), has her own adventure going on the side. But while her sexual awakening is interesting, her account of what she has lost makes it difficult to tell whether this is owing to just the kind of person she’s married to, or whether the problem is simply baked into her life and status as a wife and mother. If the latter proves to be the case, then perhaps a bit more room could be created to explore the dimming of her light because of her devotion to her family.
The problem is there doesn’t seem to be an actual family. Not when the children are so easily forgotten and have no real impact on the story.
The problem, perhaps, is that The Shakedown doesn’t quite know how to get its message across without telling. We know that Justin feels somewhat overwhelmed by his father’s stature because we are told. But in what way exactly? Is it the pressures of measuring up to his father that has turned him into a philanderer? Or is he so fed up with the golden boy image that he subconsciously wants to ruin it all? There is no answer. Justin simply acts. His brother, Dovi, should be the best thing about the film but his one big action towards the end feels contrived.
Misgivings about the plot regardless, The Shakedown is beautifully acted and the cinematography is solid. That this is South Africa’s first Amazon Prime Original is not unbelievable. The film reflects its funding. If only the story dug a little deeper into its characters and especially its lead, this would be a film worth talking about.
