A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM
WATCH THE FILM HEREMadison Avenue Exec Graham Marshall (Michael Caine) has paid his dues. A talented and devoted worker, he has suffered through mounting bills and a nagging wife with one thing to look forward to; a well-deserved promotion. But that all changes when his promotion is instead given to a loud mouth yuppie associate (Peter Riegert). Annoyed and frustrated, Graham unleashes his rage on an overly aggressive panhandler, who he accidentally kills by pushing him into the path of an oncoming subway train. Graham not only copes with killing, he finds getting away with it is easy and re-thinks his problems with in entirely new light. First he arranges an ‘accident’ for his annoying wife (Swoozie Kurtz). He then seduces a luscious young worker (Elizabeth McGovern) into his dark plot and creates another mishap for his boss. It seems the world is his once again Graham’s oyster….but a missing cigarette lighter and a prying detective (Will Patton) soon change all that.
"DIRECTED BY THE VETERAN INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER JAN EGLESON, IT’S A HEAD-ON SATIRE OF GREED AND POWER THAT’S ALSO ONE OF MOST ENTICINGLY INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF AMERICAN CORPORATE LIFE EVER PUT ON SCREEN”
A Shock To The System, by Owen Gleiberman
(Entertainment Weekly)
“BECAUSE HE SHOWS UP IN SO MANY FORGETTABLE MOVIES, MICHAEL CAINE IS UNDERAPPRECIATED. BUT A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM, JAN EGLESON’S SLY, DARK, WITTY SATIRE OF CUTTHROAT CORPORATE POLITICS, WILL SEND CAINE’S STOCK SKYROCKETING AGAIN”
Caine in Top Form as Likable Psychotic , by Jay Carr
(The Boston Globe)
“EGLESON, WHO HAS MADE FILMS FOR PUBLIC AND COMMERCIAL TELEVISION (INCLUDING THE DARK END OF THE STREET, WHICH I PRAISED HERE IN 1981) HAS CAPTURED, IN HIS FIRST THEATRICAL FEATURE, A DISTINCTIVE MANHATTAN UNEASE”
Murder, Inc. by David Denby
(New York Magazine)
the making of a shock to the system
A CONVERSATION WITH DIRECTOR JAN EGLESON
