Le Fauve

"Shamus" is one of the more obscure movies from Burt Reynolds. Obtaining it on DVD is not an easy task, nor was it available on video for long. Regardless, this is a good film. The pace is quite tight, there is a sense of style about the production and Burt Reynolds oozes with sexual charisma. He plays a private eye who is employed for a job that pays $10,000. He realises that it's all too good to be true. Sure enough, the bad guys begin appearing and problems soon arise....... "Shamus" was one of the most violent films at this stage of Reynolds's career. Some of the death scenes leave little to the imagination. This feels more like an up to date version of some of those 1940s "Film Noir" productions. I'd call it an affectionate tribute. The script could have been stronger at times, plus the story seems a bit on the confusing side. Stil worth sticking with.

This film is worth viewing just for the pantomime Reynolds does during the opening credits; some really funny stuff. I also liked the fact that an old Twilight Zone alumnus, Buzz Kulick, directed. Reynolds is not a great actor and he knows it. He tends to play the same character in every film he appears in. The one exception is of course the masterpiece Deliverence, where he plays the stoic man of action to the hilt. Shamus is a fast breezy piece of work that is fun to watch and it appears that Burt Reynolds had fun making it. Reynolds also has a tie to The Twilight Zone. In an episode called The Bard, playing a method actor called Rocky Rhodes, Reynolds does a hilarious parody of Marlon Brando.

The story of Shamus seems to be loosely based on Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep. Burt Reynolds is in the Humphrey Bogart role, and he acquits himself well playing the Philip Marlowe of the chewing gum generation. He doesn't take himself too seriously, is less sarcastic than the forties version and there are quite a few good laughs to be had.

Shamus is remarkable for reflecting the period it was shot in. The directing and the cinematography are very good. I also liked the musical score. There are quite a few nicely stylized action scenes on real locations in dock areas. Dyan Cannon gives her usual solid performance and wears clothes today's fashion designers will be very interested in. Her character's apartment in a high rise on East River must be the "dernier cri" of 1973‘s interior decorating: prints of Vasarely and Miro, steel frame chairs with white leather cushions, lamps with huge chrome bowls etc. etc.

This movie, a bright child of its time, is well worth preserving.

Burt Reynolds feels like he's shot back into the 1940s with this old-fashion, if chaotically bold crime caper story of the 70s and consisting of its era's brutality, as he plays private eye McCoy who is hired on to recover stolen diamonds and find a murderer for a rich eccentric, but what he digs up is something much more dangerous and heavy than simple diamond theft. Pretty much it's a Reynolds starring vehicle (and boy doesn't he test out his pain threshold with the constant beatings, running, tumbling and an almighty tree fall), but the support cast are just as serviceable. A radiant Dyan Cannon is quite fun as McCoy's love interest. Capable show-ins by Joe Santos, Larry Block, Ron Weyand, John P. Ryan and also Kevin Conway along with John Glover has minor parts. The gaudy New York locations are an important character to the film's make-up, as being shot on location helped with its authentic rough and tumble nature. Watching Reynold's going around gathering information, moving from one scene to another in doing anything to get his job done, was always quite amusing. From those hardily slam bang action sequences to chatting up the women and then of course spending quality time in his apartment with his cat. Reynolds uses that ruggedly laid-back charm to good affect and is quick with a smart quip. The narrative is rather crafty in its chain of events, being rather unpredictable and manipulative making out there's more to it than you are originally to believe. Still when comes to its closing, it does feel short-changed. Jerry Goldsmith contributes a playfully breezy music score. An enjoyably offbeat and assured 70s crime joint that's similar in style to the Charles Bronson's "St Ives".

"You're going to beat the sh!t out of me, right?"

Burt Reynolds in his prime as detective McCoy investigates gun trade and several lovely ladies. Some investigations lead to life threatening danger, some to the pool table. The time of the plot is early seventies but some obvious and tradition conscious nods to the detective genre point back to the forties. Two scenes, the taking of the assignment and later a scene with a lady in a bookshop seem strangely familiar. Like they were lifted from 'The Big Sleep' and turned into something new and more humorous. If I'm not all wrong about those bits, they certainly are a nice touch to the story.

McCoy also seems to have a lot in common with Mike Hammer of 'Kiss Me Deadly', his nature. At one moment he is a likable wisecracking guy and a ladies man. Then at a moment's notice he may turn into a violently sadistic brawler using any means to put a man down and get any information he wants. He is almost like two guys at one, which considering the profession becomes very handy indeed.

Shamus is full of speedy action, chases, fights and some very good looking stunts which at least some of them Reynolds seem to have handled himself. No need to wonder his superstar status during the seventies. He really had the works, skill and presence many action stars of today are lacking. Dyan Cannon as McCoy's new flame is simply lovely. She is the heart of the movie and brings in the sexiness for male viewers. Not being much of a game player I don't have to wonder anymore about the holes in pool tables.