Michael Caine's smoldering anger and witty charm can easily go hand-in-hand with black comedy. "A Shock to the System" is the perfect film to encapsulate his gifts because Caine can do just about anything - he is at your disposal to entertain and boy does he deliver.
Something is already off at the beginning of this lacerating black comedy. Caine's Graham Marshall is fixing a light bulb in the basement and almost gets electrocuted as he holds onto a lead pipe. He starts laughing, thought not maniacally. Boom, he has an idea but we don't know what that is. Graham and his semi-annoying wife (Swoosie Kurtz) are hoping for Graham's promotion as boss of the marketing firm in Wall Street. Lo and behold, he doesn't get the job. It angers him to such a boiling point that he accidentally pushes a homeless person onto a speeding subway. Graham gets away with it, and that light bulb in the basement? Well, geez, imagine if his wife were to touch the bulb and the pipe! Once, it doesn't work, second time's the charm?
Graham has a snarling contempt for his boss (Peter Riegert) who got the promotion and has a wealthy lifestyle that includes a speedboat, a ranch and a stunning girlfriend named Tara, not the plantation! Yet Graham is old-school since he has no use for such wealth, he only wants to rewire his house! Graham knows he is older than the yuppies at the firm and possibly on exit mode soon enough. Yet the murders keep him young and alert. Oh, yes, more murders and twists and turns are to be expected. Elizabeth McGovern plays the caring account executive who falls for Graham in a time of need yet slowly becomes suspicious of his behavior. It all comes down to a gold lighter and a smart, knowing detective (Will Patton), though nothing that happens can be anticipated. Boom and Bravo!
"A Shock to the System" is neither too sardonic nor too satirical - think of it as "American Psycho," in retrospect, without the bloodshed. Director Jan Egleson sometimes refuses to show certain violent acts committed by Graham - the director often quickly cuts away from a murder that is about to happen. When Egleson shows a violent act, it has black-humored impact. One superbly-timed explosion in the film will rattle your nerves not to mention the clickety-clack music score to provide extra tension. And sometimes you think Graham is ready to show how much power he has, and he doesn't use it. "A Shock to the System" is shocking in how clever the film plays with us. Michael Caine is the movie and has a great supporting cast to keep him and us on our toes. Boom!
