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Just perfect...

hyped garbage

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Burt Reynolds directs himself as an Atlanta cop investigating prostitution ring tied to a political candidate. My favorite scene in "Sharky's Machine" came early on, when Reynolds's character gets demoted to the vice squad and walks down to the bottom floor, finding what the vice squad looks like (and showing how it reflects all the sleazy stuff that they have to investigate). That scene is merely an introduction to the slimy things that Sharky and his colleagues will come across over the course of the movie.I suspect that a lot of the scenes of Rachel Ward half-dressed will interest people, but those are more peripheral to the movie's action. The environs of Atlanta set the stage for all manner of lowlife activity. And when I say lowlife, I mean that there are some INTENSE scenes. It's not any kind of great movie but I enjoyed it.The rest of the cast includes Vittorio Gassman, Charles Durning, Bernie Casey and Brian Keith.

Sharky's Machine is one of Burt's most exciting films, and one of his best, not only that, when you consider he directed this. This glamorized piece has an exciting story, and some fantastic performances, notably from Vittorio Gassman, as a high class pimp, his psychopathic hit man brother (evil faced Henry Silva) unforgettable as is his demise in an explosive, and unforgettable finale. Burt plays Ray Sharky, who's sting operation is botched by another colleague, who provides a surprise twist of character, later on. He's demoted to vice, making friends fast with the other boys. What I really liked here was the mateship among this squad, this film one of the best examples, some deeply written characters, you really get to know, where you want to be part of it. Burt assigns them in the wake of a mob hit, involving government ties, and a high class prostitute/wannabe dancer (Ward) involved with a senator, who must be silenced. Burt bugs her place, and of course, is smitten by her. When mistaken for another pro, who buys the farm, bloodily, Burt takes Ward under his guard, and a romance blossoms, Burt first losing it with her at earlier, which was amusing. Ward's pro character, is surprisingly someone we really get to know, and is painted as a much more down to earth character, something rarely seen in pro characters, to this extent. There is some nasty 80's gore in this R rated pic, one torture scene with Burt, minus some fingers, is more implicit. SM I like for many reasons, most of all, it's the excitement factor, with a exciting story at play, where so much is going on, you kind of do feel it does lose itself. It doesn't bog itself down, with a less than more thing going on, which to it's advantage, makes this exciting film more intriguing. Durning is great as the cranky chief of the vice squad, the bleachers scene on the baseball grounds, a cool one, as is the one with Burt hatefully confronting Gassman and his stable of girls at that restaurant, where Burt's admittance of something, causing his nemesis to see red. Though the most memorable moment, is that second to last scene with Reynolds unleashing vengeance on Silva, a wonderfully shot moment, etched in your memory of this classic, where Burt really scores.

Frm the opening strains of Randy Crawford's spunky "Street Life" to the final shot, "Sharky's Machine" is a lean, mean 80's-cop action extravaganza.Okay, it's not "Citizen Kane." I don't think it was intended to be. But we have some very nice things going on here. First, Burt Reynolds (who I otherwise despise) is actually very good in his role as a weary, frustrated cop. And maybe this wasn't all acting- this film was made at about the same time Burt Reynolds' star power was beginning to fade, and he looks suitably humbled and remorseful. Whether he's acting or not his demeanor is perfect for the character- the cackling, smarmy Burt that we're used to would have ruined the role.Next, we have our All-Star Team of Character Actors: Charles Durning, Bernie Casey, Brian Keith, Richard Libertini and horror-face himself Henry Silva. With a supporting cast like this you can't possibly go wrong. These guys make every forgettable scene substantial and give the movie an organic, timeless look. The highlights are Bernie Casey waxing zen about his near-death experience and Charles Durning's comedic frustration with his offbeat police staff. The movie is subtle but very funny.Finally, there is Rachel Ward. Gorgeous, sexy, and engaging… she is as good here as she was in "Against All Odds." (And is it me or does it seem like every male character goes crazy for her?) You can see why... she just has the right amount of mystery and sexuality that keeps you hanging on her every word. She brings the movie up a whole letter grade.So is "Sharky's Machine" a classic? An all-timer? No, not really. But if you like good, fun, violent, fast-moving urban action cop flicks this is a must-see. Enjoy!GRADE: B+

Burt Reynold's is tough cop Sharky. He likes sitting in skyscrapers and watching things through binoculars. So much so that the whole of this movie has Sharky sitting in a skyscraper watching things through his binoculars. Occasionally, he relieves himself by taking an urgent urination but soon it is binoculars time again. This is exciting! Later in the movie we get a glimpse of Burt sitting in a skyscraper watching things through his binoculars. Then, in an unexpected burst of action, he decides to watch things through his binoculars. The highlight of the movie is undoubtedly the ending scene where he watches things through his binoculars while in a skyscraper. A few less scenes of Burt watching things through his binoculars would have moved things along a little faster but, on the whole, not bad.