Alone in the Neon Jungle

A well-respected police officer is assigned to an LA precinct stuffed full of the usual movie cliches (drugged-up gangs, dope-peddlers, hookers and their pimps, gypsies, tramps and thieves). That's the thanks you get for doing a good job: you get a harder one to do. Setting about tidying up the shop in her usual fashion, she is dismayed when one of her closest colleagues is mysteriously shot dead while on duty. And when she checks out the murder, following a lead through the victim's girlfriend (a hooker, of course), she finds the usual wall of silence, corruption and conspiracy one finds when enmeshed in a thoroughly average TV movie.

Another TVM that`s a waste of time . The plot revolves around a ballsy police captain - And yes she`s a woman - trying to weed out poor practice and corruption in her department . Apart from the usual twee faults of a TVM production there were several things that irritated me about this film .

1 ) Suzanne Pleshettes`s performance . If you have the misfortune of seeing ALONE IN THE NEON JUNGLE check out the way Pleshette is unable to keep her head still. It really is distracting the way she shakes or nods her head while speaking .

2 ) Despite being set in 1988 everyone wears clothes from different eras . We see people ( Pimps I take it ) walking about dressed like John Travolta in SNF , punks even though they died out a few years before , and bikers who look like they`re straight out of a early 70s road movie

3 ) The hookers in this all wear tights ( Pantyhose I think they`re called in America ) but I`m led to believe most hookers have sex with their clients in the back of their car so are tights a practical item of clothing for a streetwalking working girl ? And it just shows what poor entertainment this film is when I find myself asking an abstract question like that

Oh and ALONE IN THE NEON JUNGLE also features one of the most incomprehensible lines I`ve ever heard. When trying to break a corrupt cop the heroine says " Do you know what they do to cops in prison ? They rape you by throwing you from the top tier " Can someone send me a private message telling me what the hell getting raped by being thrown from the top tier is ?

Oh and despite cops getting blown away in Pittsburgh prostitution and burglary seem to be the only crimes the police department worry about

Large swaths of this movie, starting with the plot and including word-for-word blocks of dialog, come out of the movie Twelve O'Clock High, which appears to be uncredited, at least here. The setting has been changed from an American Army Air Force base in England in 1942 to a Chicago police department, but the essence of the plot -- new leader comes in to turn around an organization that is falling apart -- is the same. Unfortunately, most of the drama and insight was lost in the translation, producing scenes that simply don't make sense, or mess up the intent of the original. Whereas a key element of Twelve O'Clock high is about the high toll of warfare even on those who think they are doing the right thing, this movie boils down to "Suzanne Pleshette is tougher than everyone else." There is a deliberate contrast and parallel between the first leader (Gary Merril) and the second (Gregory Peck), but this movie basically begins with Suzanne Pleshette taking over, thus eliminating any sense of commonality under fire. Go see Twelve O'Clock High instead -- it's based on the true story of General Frank Armstrong, and was well and thoroughly researched.

Suzanne Pleshette, (Capt. Janet Hamilton) gave an outstanding performance as an experienced female officer who has been assigned to clean up a bad section of Pittsburgh, Pa., where police officers rob jewelry stores and deal with prostitutes. Danny Aiello, (Chief) enlists the help of Janet to clean up this police station where even policemen are being killed because they know too much. Capt. Hamilton is also upsetting her husband and they are beginning to start going their separate ways until things start to change in the police station. There are many threats made to Capt. Hamilton, however, their were loyal officers who stood behind her and decided to start informing on their fellow officers. Suzanne Pleshette surprised me with her great acting as a tough Captain who could clean up a very bad police department.

Suzanne Pleshette is the star in what is obviously a failed TV pilot of a female police captain being assigned to a rough and corrupt precinct in Pittsburgh. This place is so bad that she has to proceed cautiously, not knowing who to trust. The only trust here is that which Chief Danny Aiello placed in her to get the job done.

Two of the precinct's cops have busted for doing a little moonlighting as burglars and one of the sergeants is killed upon her arrival. Not easy to separate the good ones from the bad ones at this precinct known as the 'sewer'.

Pleshette made a good and forceful commander and she's supported on the home front by her architect husband Frank Converse. The most interesting of the characters in the story is the one played by young Jon Tenney as the recent transfer and fairly young cop. Given what he does, he'll have a limited future in the Pittsburgh PD.

Alone In The Neon Jungle would have made a nice series.