The Prime Video crime comedy film The Shakedown revolves around successful South African insurance broker Justin Diamond (Carl Beukes), who seems to be living the dream life until a blackmailing mistress threatens to reveal his infidelity. What follows is a comedy of errors throughout Cape Town as local hitmen, a sketchy rabbi, and Diamond's fast-talking brother Dovi (Emmanuel Castis) get in on the action.
A decent watch for fans of Coen Brothers and dark crime comedies. It wouldn't take a cinephile to spot how reminiscent The Shakedown is to situational crime comedies, particularly Coen Brothers classics like The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona. Director Ari Kruger also cited In Bruges and the HBO TV series Barry as inspirations for The Shakedown's genre quips, which are very much evident. Does The Shakedown match the level of any of these inspirations? No. But it's definitely an entertaining watch. Carl Beukes seamlessly fits the part of a sly financial whiz who can pull off a nice guy act while hiding skeletons in his closet. Seeing him suffer in one dysfunctional situation after the other will make you chuckle, if not guffaw. And when Beukes' Justin Diamond gets overbearing, Emmanuel Castis shines as his dodgy but kind-hearted brother, Dovi. A character straight out of an early Guy Ritchie comedy, this street-smart slacker is the perfect antithesis to the film's entrepreneur protagonist.
The situational humor elevates a rather ordinary screenplay. The Shakedown's overall narrative is wafer-thin, and it's perhaps to experience it as an anthology of chaotic situations. This makes sense, considering Kruger previously worked on popular South African sitcoms like Tali's Wedding Diary and Tali's Joburg Diary. Where the dialogues might come off as ordinarily one-dimensional, physical comedy is used effectively. Some stand-out moments include an altercation between a heavily injured, bedridden criminal and a vengeance-seeking hitman. The latter hammers the former's hands and legs but gets no painful squeals in return as the low-life bum on the hospital bed is numb with anesthetics. Elsewhere in the film, a male sex doll bearing a haunting likeness to Antonio Banderas is used to hilarious effect, both in situations of sexual and violent nature. Such one-off moments of genuine humor might make The Shakedown a bit scattershot in its tone, but these screwball gags are enough to keep you hooked. In an era when even the Coens can lose the plot (just look at Ethan Coen's Driveaway Dolls as a recent example), Kruger's Coen-esque Cape Town-set crime comedy makes for an enjoyable directorial debut.
The Shakedown isn't a groundbreaking crime comedy, but it's still worth your time for all its zany hilarity, eccentric characters, and physical gags.
Watch The Shakedown