A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM

A SHOCK TO THE S YSTEM is an elegant and disturbing thriller in which murder emerges as the inevitable expression of the New York corporate ethos. Michael Caine, in an.expert performance, is Graham Marshall, a British advertising executive working for a big New York firm. When Graham accidentally pushes a subway panhandler in front of an oncoming train, he just walks away from the scene and experiences a wild lift of spirit – he feels he has magic and can get away with anything. The movie has been photographed and narra ed from Graham's point of view, and offers a distinctive Manhattan unease. Numbers are being crunched and executives, too. Betrayal is in the air. – David Denby, New York Magazine.