While the idea would certainly seem to hold promise for interesting social commentary, the script by Ron McGee lacks the necessary bite, as does the rote direction of Ron Oliver.
Comment
08/14/06
Shock to the System (2006)
50 %
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted: 8
Fresh: 4
Rotten:4
Average Rating: 5/10
Theatrical Release:Aug 4, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: When hard boiled private eye Donald Strachey (Chad Allen) finds his latest client dead, an apparent suicide, Albany's favorite gay detective smells a rat and decides to take matters into his own... [More]
Starring: Chad Allen, Sebastian Spence, Michael Woods, Morgan Fairchild
Director: Ron Oliver
Get This Movie
Reviews for Shock to the System
1 - 8 (sorted by date)
Top CriticIt's certainly a pleasant enough way to kill 90 minutes.
08/05/06
This is a sly, refreshingly grown-up gay entertainment, though rather less satisfying as a thriller.
08/04/06
Top CriticWere it not for the fact that the hero and many of the major supporting characters are gay… this breezy, disposable film could as easily have been a mainstream network pilot for a McMillan and Wife-style series.
08/04/06
Where film noir is often punch-drunk with a jab of snappy patter and a left hook of world-weary cynicism, Shock tries to clinch with understanding.
08/03/06
Top Critic... director Ron Oliver applies a thin veneer of straight-to-cable pseudo-gloss without finding a workable tone, and the cast lacks the charisma and chemistry to make the genre and gender-bending register as more than novelty.
08/02/06
Top CriticA perfectly respectable second entry in the saga of gay private eye Donald Strachey.
07/27/06
Top CriticPity there was no room for Phyllis Diller or Carol Channing here, because then the film might have had a leg up on Scooby-Doo and the Creepy Castle.
07/16/06
1 - 8 (sorted by date)
Related Forums for Shock to the System
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Appreciating Michael Jackson 
TIME music critic Josh Tyrangiel remembers - and appreciates - the high peak of Michael Jackson's career in the early '80s.
10 Best Picture Noms?
With the Best Picture Oscar noms now 10 deep, BuzzSugar looks at 10 films that should have made the cut.
Successful Sci-Fi Sequels
Sequels never used to be as good as the original, but now they can be even better. Can Transformers 2 follow suit?
Films That Time Forgot
The AV Club's Zack Handlen explores why Snowbeast has been dismissed and forgotten.
IGN RSS Feeds