A Forties retread with Seventies violence...
In "Shamus," Burt Reynolds is a New York private eye afraid of big dogs and keeps a beautiful ginger cat...

He lives in a single room and sleeps on a pool table... He is quite capable of pushing a heroin addict's face into the garbage... He is certainly the 1970's version - almost in comic-strip - of the private investigator...

Reynolds lives cheaply, yet is hired to pursue a theft of diamonds; he is big and sexy, and the gorgeous Dyan Cannon is only too happy to dally with him at the drop of a clue; and he is apparently so tough that he can take all manner of beatings and emerge unscathed...

It is doubtful if he is the sort of man one would want to introduce to one's maiden aunt (the one with all the money), but he is certainly a character to fulfill all the audience's fantasies of violence, sex and thrills...

Shamus
One of Burt Reynolds Action classics from the 70's
Burt is a private eye, who gets it really hot....something he did'nt suspect...i'll gladly recomend this movie....

Colorful Characters
This movie was made at the start of Burt Reynold's stardom. He plays a down-on-his-luck P.I. (granted, not a very original concept), but Burt was born for this role as the wise-cracking, street smart detective. A character actor named Ron Weyand who plays E.J. Hume, Burt's client in the plot, steals every scene he is in - this guy is amazing and I wonder why his screen work is so limited? Anyway, this is a fast-paced drama with plenty of interesting characters and some good laughs too.

A Good PI Offering & One Of Reynolds Best

This movie happened just as Burt Reynold's star was starting to shine. It was before he got caught in formula driven audience (of the time) pleasers, and it's an example of one of the things he did best. You can add this to Deliverance, Sharkey's Machine and Starting Over as the ones he hit out of the park.

It updates the down and out private investigator tale, and it does it with a gritty, contemporary style. Reynolds is believable, witty and tough (his stuntman days kick in here and much of what we see on screen- including that fall, is him).

The story is well crafted (and pre-Iran/Contra- which make it really interesting- the 'sales pitch scene' at the army base being priceless). It came and went pretty fast in the theatres but it had some real style that was overlooked. The lines are witty: " Why did you pick me? " " You weren't the first choice. " " Oh... 2nd or 3rd? " " No... the 56th. " " Next time lie, okay? "

Dyan Cannon balances Reynolds, and the rest of the support cast play the mood out well. Jerry Goldsmith's score gave it a real bounce, too. Morris the Cat from the famous old commercials even does a guest stint as Reynold's cat (no voice overs, though), and the film offers an interesting example of how diverse a pool table can be!

If you didn't like Reynold's work, watch this and you'll like him in this. If you did like him... watch this and enjoy what he did best. This is a good PI picture with a story that had some reality to it. It makes you laugh but gets you nervous about whose minding the store at your local army base!

Brisk minor PI movie
Shamus is not a great PI movie -like say The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon ;nor is it an especially good one but it is briskly paced ,with plenty of decently staged action scenes that divert attention from a convoluted and not especially believable plot.
The eponymous private eye is McCoy -played winningly by Reynolds-who is based in Brooklyn and whose economic state is more than a little parlous.His apartment ,like his wardrobe ,is sparsely furnished -he sleeps on a pool table in fact.A serial womaniser with a line of chat that was probably okay in the era the movie was made ,but now seems distinctly cheesy Mccoy is likeable and a personable man with the usual line of smart one lineres that is an essential part of any fictional pi's armourey
He is engaged by a millionaire to trace the whereabouts of diamonds stolen during a recent robbery/murder.In the course of the investigation he is shot at ;beaten up;is chased and chases bad guys across Brooklyn by foot and by car before a lively climax at a US army base where illicit arms deals are going down.Some measure of compensation is provided by the delectable Dyan Cannon with whom he falls in love.
It was perhaps unwise of the writers to evoke The Big Sleep in the scenes with Mccoy's employer -just as that classic saw the tec being engaged by a client with a passion for heat ,the millionaire here is a man who insists on near freezing conditions.
Best sit back and enjoy it for what it is -a star vehicle that gets by on action and solid playing all round while never rising above the acceptable.