The Sweeney

Inspired by a successful TV series in the 1970s, we follow The Flying Squad, an elite group of officers in the London Metropolitan Police. This violent R-rated actioner will have you covering your eyes, stifling your giggles and checking your watch. The kindest thing I can say is that maybe this is a pilot for a re-launch of the series.

This is a formulaic bunch of nonsense suffering from an overdose of testosterone: brutal, bloody, and profane. It features the worst gunfight in the history of cinema. The squad itself is effective (even thought they can't hit the broad side of a barn), but its methods are so shocking we are left with no one to root for.

We see:

• Damian Lewis ("Homeland") I knew things were bad when I couldn't even root for DCI Frank Haskins. Lewis is an actor who could even give Soames Forsyte a bit of humanity in "The Forsyte Saga." I rest my case.
• Ray Winstone ("Hugo") is DI Jack Regan, brutal, vicious and, according to his mistress, pretty good in bed. I was surprised he put out his cigarette long enough to have sex.
• Hayley Atwell ("The Duchess") is DC Nancy Lewis, married to Lewis and getting it on with DI Jack Regan.
• Steven Mackintosh (Lots of TV) is tightly-wound DCI Ivan Lewis, married to the gal who...oh you know, boilerplate misbehavior and ersatz scandal...if only we cared...
• Ben Drew ("Turnout") is DC George Carter, an Eminem look-alike, hoodie and all, a young copper who clearly admires his brutal, slightly bent boss.

We are treated to station-house humor: extremely vulgar and obviously relished by all the guys on screen. We in the audience didn't catch many of the jokes because we either couldn't hear or understand them. This is an English-speaking film that really needs Closed Captions for us folks here in The Colonies!

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Here is a link to a trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2214436889/
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