A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Suzanne Pleshette is the star in what is obviously a failed TV pilot of a female police captain being assigned to a rough and corrupt precinct in Pittsburgh. This place is so bad that she has to proceed cautiously, not knowing who to trust. The only trust here is that which Chief Danny Aiello placed in her to get the job done.Two of the precinct's cops have busted for doing a little moonlighting as burglars and one of the sergeants is killed upon her arrival. Not easy to separate the good ones from the bad ones at this precinct known as the 'sewer'.Pleshette made a good and forceful commander and she's supported on the home front by her architect husband Frank Converse. The most interesting of the characters in the story is the one played by young Jon Tenney as the recent transfer and fairly young cop. Given what he does, he'll have a limited future in the Pittsburgh PD.Alone In The Neon Jungle would have made a nice series.

As my fellow reviewer pointed out, the only crimes committed in this city is prostitution and minor burglary! Not exactly the worst crimes in the world, to say it's supposed to be the 'sewer of lowlifes,' it doesn't seem that bad compared to some major cities around the country.Still, it is a TV movie so it's somewhat sanitised and not going to be Al Pacino's 'Scarface' for instance. For something from this maligned genre, it's fairly watchable and again, I've seen far worse examples. The plot is very predictable, 'new captain goes to corrupt police station and cleans it up.' Since she's a woman, maybe she should have taken a mop & bucket and a duster....only joking! Please, no letters complaining of sexism.As to be expected, she sorts out the bad eggs and gets the decent cops back online. While there, there's also the matter of the mystery killer behind the death of another officer. But this is a no-brainer as we see the man early on doing the murder, although, cloaked in shadows, it's pretty easy to see by his height, build and colouring, who he is! No surprise when he is later revealed.Suzanne Pleshette makes a decent fist of the lead role, although, as pointed out by another reviewer, her nodding dog in the back of the car style of acting is somewhat irritating at times. A small part by Danny Aiello as well before he went on to bigger and better things.Acting honours go to Jon Tenney as the naive rookie, Hansen who is slowly drawn into the sleazy corrupt world of his fellow officers. A nice understated piece of work that convinces.In conclusion, watchable but nothing we haven't seen before in episodes of 'Kojak' or 'Starsky & Hutch.' And finally, to enlighten my fellow reviewer, Theo from Scotland, the correct phrase that was used to intimidate the informant was: "you know what happens to cops in prison? They get raped and THEN thrown off the top tier." As the sound recording quality isn't the best, not surprising it's hard to make out.

Another TVM that`s a waste of time . The plot revolves around a ballsy police captain - And yes she`s a woman - trying to weed out poor practice and corruption in her department . Apart from the usual twee faults of a TVM production there were several things that irritated me about this film . 1 ) Suzanne Pleshettes`s performance . If you have the misfortune of seeing ALONE IN THE NEON JUNGLE check out the way Pleshette is unable to keep her head still. It really is distracting the way she shakes or nods her head while speaking .2 ) Despite being set in 1988 everyone wears clothes from different eras . We see people ( Pimps I take it ) walking about dressed like John Travolta in SNF , punks even though they died out a few years before , and bikers who look like they`re straight out of a early 70s road movie 3 ) The hookers in this all wear tights ( Pantyhose I think they`re called in America ) but I`m led to believe most hookers have sex with their clients in the back of their car so are tights a practical item of clothing for a streetwalking working girl ? And it just shows what poor entertainment this film is when I find myself asking an abstract question like that Oh and ALONE IN THE NEON JUNGLE also features one of the most incomprehensible lines I`ve ever heard. When trying to break a corrupt cop the heroine says " Do you know what they do to cops in prison ? They rape you by throwing you from the top tier " Can someone send me a private message telling me what the hell getting raped by being thrown from the top tier is ?Oh and despite cops getting blown away in Pittsburgh prostitution and burglary seem to be the only crimes the police department worry about

A well-respected police officer is assigned to an LA precinct stuffed full of the usual movie cliches (drugged-up gangs, dope-peddlers, hookers and their pimps, gypsies, tramps and thieves). That's the thanks you get for doing a good job: you get a harder one to do. Setting about tidying up the shop in her usual fashion, she is dismayed when one of her closest colleagues is mysteriously shot dead while on duty. And when she checks out the murder, following a lead through the victim's girlfriend (a hooker, of course), she finds the usual wall of silence, corruption and conspiracy one finds when enmeshed in a thoroughly average TV movie.