A Shock to the System

I enjoyed this. "Graham" (Michael Caine) gets a bit narked when he is overlooked for promotion at work. When he heads home, he realises that that is just the beginning of his irritations - his wife "Leslie" (Swoosie Kurtz) nags him relentlessly! What to do? Well, his house has some dodgy electrics and whilst trying to restore the lights, he gets a mild electric shock. His "Eureka" moment is upon him - he can just eliminate those who stand in his way, or annoy the hell out of him... What now ensues is a short series of cleverly thought out, well, "accidents" that enable him to rid himself of his wife and to occupy that all important corner office at work. Can he get away with it? The thing about Caine's performance here is that it engenders sympathy. You feel for the man - and I was certainly egging him on as his shenanigans start to attract the attentions of others - not least the insurance company inspector who is looking at their domestic wiring. Not even 90 minutes long, this flies by - good efforts from Caine, the usually rather bland Elizabeth McGovern, Kurtz and Peter Riegert as the smarmy, corporate man who stole his chair in the first place. Not laugh a minute, no - but it does raise a smile and make you wonder just how far you might go, if opportunity presented itself.

"A Shock to the System" is one of those films where you eventually find yourself rooting for the character - in this case Graham Marshall - who would ordinarily be considered the bad guy, especially in light of the fact he proceeds to murder all the key figures in his life who have gradually become obstacles frustrating his efforts at every turn to achieve his full professional potential. This excellent film has been wonderfully directed by Jan Egleson with the camera restlessly roaming around the spacious office and allowing us to momentarily eavesdrop on random snippets of administrive business and there is also a slow and marvellously well balanced tension which begins to mount towards the end when it seems as though Marshall's homicidal machinations are slowly unravelling, but guess what? The film decides to let him escape justice so he can continue his unscruplous climb up the long ladder to corporate success.