Ari Kruger’s THE SHAKEDOWN is a bonkers black comedy that celebrates family values with a body count. A heady blend of sibling rivalry, slick salesmanship, and a rabbi with a gambling problem, it takes the buddy film in unpredictable directions as two estranged brothers cope with a simple plan gone very wrong after one of them makes an all-too predictable mistake.
That would be Justin (Carl Beukes) the golden boy of the Diamond family with a devoted wife, Natalie (Julia Anastasopoulos), two great kids, and a mother (Kate Normington) who thinks the sun rises and sets upon him. An opinion that has little to do with her early stages of dementia, but a decision that will have far-reaching repercussions for both her boys. Justin is a star insurance broker, convincing clients to buy into the Bloom Prime Program, a point system used to get rewards for being healthy that depends on following instructions from a smart watch. It’s moved him into an income bracket that allows him to spend $10K for a Bat Mitzvah for his daughter, Rya (Shani Sacks), where his mildly addled mother brings Dovi (Emmanuel Castis), the black sheep of the family. Being that black sheep, however, hasn’t affected his earning power, hence the diamond necklace, with lots and lots of shiny stones, that he gifts to Rya.
Life is good for Justin, who, alas, has made a poor choice in a mistress (Berenice Barbier), a fitness trainer with black roots, a penchant for pastels, and the comprehension skills of a goldfish. When Justin wants to break up with her, she threatens to take their sex video public, sending Justin scrambling for ready cash to pay her off, and help from his sketchy older brother to make sure she doesn’t come back for more. Chaos ensues when Dovi delegates the task, and the understandably stressed Justin is unable to continue the connubial bliss he and Natalie have hitherto enjoyed.
Kruger has made a taut and deadpan delight, as the brothers bicker over how to deal with each new crisis while their situation grows exponentially more dire, and Natalie discovers the piquant secret to her best friend’s newfound glow, which is also an answer to her connubial woes. The humor is arch, but also visceral. Bullets fly along with sharp objects, and gangsters do gangster things that will make you cringe. And occasionally gasp. Interrupting the life-and-death struggle, there’s a running motif of Justin himself obeying smart watch commands in order to win points and rewards, including a most unappetizing ice-water bath.
Yet, for all the mayhem there is surprising heart to a story as we can’t help but hope that the adventures, and misadventures, might just lead to a reconciliation between the brothers. It’s the way Castis, after Dovi has repeatedly tries and failed to save his brother, finds the hint of loneliness that Dovi lets slip when he asks Justin to invite him to Shabbat dinner. If only sometimes. For his part, Beukes is the perfect straight man to the increasingly ludicrous, and dangerous, events his carnal slip has unleashed. Yes, he plays Justin with that too slick gift of glib as he sells health plans, but even as he repeats his spiel about how important his family is to him, Beukes establishes that while Justin enjoys the spiel, and the effect it has on his audiences, the salesman is, on some level, telling the truth about how he feels about the wife and kids.
THE SHAKEDOWN provides an interesting take on the Jewish definitions of good and evil, though the exposition is put into the mouth of a character with his own ethical challenges. As a morality tale, it is oddly satisfying. Justice is served with a wry smile and a knowing wink. Not to mention a sigh of slightly adulterated relief.
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