A Shock to the System

The movie is juicy fun, a high comedy about the personality of power. Read full review

A Shock to the System, a dark comedy with the structure of a thriller, is delightfully hard-edged. [23 Apr 1990, p.C1]

A Shock to the System is a beautiful, subtle satire of corporate America, providing a fresh slant on the visceral nastiness hovering beneath the glossy surface. The tension in the film is superb, swelling and receding with just the right degrees of intensity and the plot has enough unanticipated twists to provide thrills right until the end. [13 Oct 1990]

What’s remarkable is that you come away from the movie laughing at Graham’s murderous indiscretions and yet you’re frightened by them too. Caine makes you taste the ashes in this black comedy. Read full review

Seldom have Caine's cobra eyes been used to better effect; it's a chilling tale, cleanly directed. Read full review

A Shock to the System confounds our expectations and keeps us intrigued, because there's no way to know, not even in the very last moments, exactly which way the plot is going to fall. Read full review

When a tone is sustained as confidently and with as many delicious flourishes as A Shock to the System manages, and the screen is filled with characterful performances, it's a sign the director is doing something right. [23 Mar 1990, p.46p]

A feel-good movie for anyone who's ever wanted to see yuppies burned, blown up, or dropped from the sky. Read full review

A Shock to the System marks a promising entry into feature films for Jan Egleson, who has directed prestige films for public television. He skillfully plays the murderous events against the normality of New York high rises and peaceful suburbia. [02 Apr 1990]

A Shock to the System has wit, a cool classy charm and a hero you root for even after he rigs his house's faulty wiring so his nagging wife unwittingly electrocutes herself while he's out of town on business. [23 Mar 1990, p.G5]

The movie eventually settles down to become a routine thriller, but its first hour has moments of sheer brilliance as Andrew Klavan's screenplay and first-time director Jan Egleson build an agonizingly detailed satire of the hypocrisy and self-devouring nature of corporate America. [23 Mar 1990]

The character is manipulative, unsympathetic and quite depraved, but Caine plays him with such wicked glee that it's impossible to resist watching and vicariously enjoying his descent into corruption. [23 Mar 1990, p.26]

An amusing debut for both the writer and director, who benefit from Caine's tongue and cheeky turn as the unbuttoned-down Graham. Read full review

Michael Caine gives the most ferocious comic performance of his career, while Elizabeth McGovern is deliciously understated as the ''sorceror's apprentice'' who unwittingly helps him. [23 Mar 1990]

Since Michael Caine's charm, energy and abilities have managed to survive so many cheesy movies, it's heartening to note that A Shock to the System is a slice or two tastier than usual. [23 Mar 1990, p.4D]

The movie, based on the novel by Simon Brett, tries very hard to make a statement about the feelings of a man who has struggled for years and suddenly finds himself over the hill, a shutout at work and at home. But the tale falters on Caine's character. [23 Mar 1990, p.E5]

Andrew Klavan's screenplay, adapted from a novel by Simon Brett, comes up with funny lines now and then, but it never has any clear idea whether it is a black comedy, a satire or maybe even a psychological study of a serial killer. Read full review

An ambitious screenplay (by Andrew Klavan) is done in by wavering direction (by Jan Egleson) in A Shock to the System, an independent feature that is still worth seeing for its well-chosen cast of medium-priced performers, including Michael Caine, Elizabeth McGovern, Peter Riegert, Swoosie Kurtz and Will Patton. [23 Mar 1990, p.H]

Let's face it: Caine could do a lambada movie and it'd be worth seeing. His work in the new suspense thriller A Shock to the System carries us past the movie's bad direction and muddled script. [24 Mar 1990, p.2D]