A black comedy from 1990 whose effectiveness pivots on an unexpected but quite canny casting choice: Michael Caine, playing a New York businessman using highly unorthodox practices to get ahead. Caine’s incarnation has a most incongruous cockney accent, and is at least a decade older than the character was evidently supposed to be, but the performance is crucial to what makes this film, scripted by the prolific novelist and screenwriter (and future conservative YouTuber) Andrew Klavan, the memorable lark it is.
Inspired by a 1985 novel by Simon Brett, A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM features Caine as Graham Marshall, a businessman up for a lucrative promotion he ultimately doesn’t get. It goes instead to his younger colleague Robert Benham (Peter Riegert), which irks Graham so much he inadvertently kills a homeless man that night by angrily pushing him into the path of an oncoming subway train. As Caine’s second-person narration states, “He kept expecting a bolt of lightning to come out of the sky and strike him dead. But it never did. All he felt was good, clean, free. As if he’d taken a thousand pound load off his back.”
Graham decides to use this newfound problem solving method more widely. First he dispatches his annoying wife Leslie (Swoosie Kurtz) in an electrical “accident,” and then turns his attention to interfering co-workers. Standing in Graham’s way are the pretty would-be love interest Stella (Elizabeth McGovern), who grows increasingly suspicious of his doings, and Lt. Laker (Will Patton), whose eye for detail uncovers some telling discrepancies in Graham’s methodology.
Yes, this is all presented comically, and yes, it actually works. Dark comedy is a tall order, particularly in a nineties movie (see the highly uneven likes of I LOVE YOU TO DEATH, THE LAST SUPPER, A LIFE LESS ORDINARY, U-TURN, BERNIE and VERY BAD THINGS), and while there are annoyances (such as the lazily utilized voice-over narration) the format is given a fine work out here due to the expert direction by Jan Egleson. Graham’s killings are presented in a subtle and non-bloody manner, and the office set scenes are kept lively (although the swoopy camerawork feels a tad show-offy) and colorful, with cinematographer Paul Goldsmith especially partial to anxiety-inducing yellow-and-green hues.
Michael Caine is, again, crucial to the film’s effectiveness. His natural likeability keeps his character engaging even in moments of mirth and outrage, and the supporting cast, which includes talents like Elizabeth McGovern, Peter Riegert, Will Patton, Jenny Wright and (in a tiny role) Samuel L. Jackson, compliments Cain’s work extremely well.
Vital Statistics
A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM
Corsair Pictures
Director: Jan Egleson
Producer: Patrick McCormick
Screenplay: Andrew Klavan
(Based on a novel by Simon Brett)
Cinematography: Paul Goldsmith
Editing: Peter C. Frank, William A. Anderson
Cast: Michael Caine, Elizabeth McGovern, Peter Riegert, Swoosie Kurtz, Will Patton, Jenny Wright, John McMartin, Haviland Morris, Barbara Baxley