Boys Playing Cops
DI Jack Regan (Ray Winstone) is a relic from the past who as part of the Sweeney has an old school way of doing things be it beating up suspects in interrogation or disrespecting anyone who is above him. He is also having an affair with Nancy Lewis (Hayley Atwell) one of his team who just happens to be married to Ivan (Steven Mackintosh) part of Internal Affairs who would love to get Regan sacked for being a bent cop. But Regan and his team which includes DC George Carter (Ben Drew) are on the case involving a jewellery robbery which ended with a civilian being killed. But with time ticking down and Ivan doing what ever he can to get rid of Regan it may be that this time Regan won't get his man.
Let me cut to the chase, in fact a car chase scene in "The Sweeney" where the team from "Top Gear", yes Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, helped create and their names appear in the credits as stunt performers. The thing is that anyone who has watched an episode of "Top Gear" and then watched "The Sweeney" will probably spot this because a car chase around a caravan park with slides, crashes and a few caravans coming worse off looks exactly like something you would see on "Top Gear" right down to the in-car camera work as they slide around corners.
Anyway with the "Top Gear" bit mentioned I might as well mention another TV show "The Apprentice" because I wouldn't be surprised if those doing the camera work for "The Apprentice" helped out on "The Sweeney" as well. Scene after scene where Regan and Carter are heading through London has that same style with shots which glide by buildings before pointing up to look at the top of the building and the sky. Trust me if you have never been to London then watch a few movies like "The Sweeney" and you wouldn't have to because this style of camera work is like a tourist piece.
Okay I suppose I should get to talking about "The Sweeney" and so let's see; Regan is a relic, a bent cop and a thug after some bad guys and willing to beat up bad guys and of course Internal Affairs because they are slags as well in order to get his man, did I mention he say slag a lot. Regan is partnered by George who talks like a fifteen year old who thinks he sounds hard by constantly dropping letters off the ends of words and well to be honest there are more plot holes than you will find in a warehouse full of Swiss cheese. Of course in a way none of this matters as "The Sweeney" wants to update the old TV show but be a knock back to it where the characters law breaking antics and tough attitude was more important than the detail. As such with suspension of belief we are meant to cheer on George when he takes on a room full of much bigger thugs and comes out with barely a scratch on his face.
So that brings me to the acting and that basically means Ray Winstone and Ben Drew acting like school boys playing cops in the playground, well if we were back in the 70s and 80s when kids pretended to be thuggish un-pc cops. I guess for the nonsense which this movie is they play their parts well but considering I just called this nonsense doesn't actually mean I thought a great deal of their performances nor those of the rest of the cast with Steven Mackintosh and Damian Lewis probably wondering what they had signed up to.
What this all boils down to is that "The Sweeney" really didn't do it for me and whilst I expected some of what I watched the fact that for the most it is utter nonsense really lets it down almost as much as some of the cinematography which was too reminiscent of a couple of TV shows for my liking.
Tags: British TV Shows & Their Movies
