Film Review
- Film title
- The Sweeney
- Director
- Nick Love
- Starring
- Ray Winstone, Ben Drew, Damian Lewis, Hayley Atwell, Steven Mackintosh
- Release date
- 12 Sep
- Certificate
- 15
The Sweeney
It’s The Sweeney, son… and it’s nowhere near as bad as you fink it is. Ray Winstone is Regan, snarling and punching his way through a mission to rid Laandaan of all manner of slags by any means necessary, aided by Ben Drew as hot-headed George Carter and their fellow Flying Squad hardnuts. Unfortunately, Regan’s methods are drawing the attention of Internal Affairs square Lewis (Steven Mackintosh) just as a new team of high-end crooks needing a slap hit the town. Typical.
Borrowing liberally from Michael Mann in aesthetic (and just plain thieving a setpiece from Heat), Nick Love’s film has a brutal intensity and unashamed machismo more akin to Walter Hill that makes this a rare geezer-romp to enjoy rather than endure. Delightfully po-faced, with a thumping score and a wonderful performance from Big Ray (although Renaissance chav Drew is less convincing), The Sweeney is a refreshingly unironic gruff-fest in the spirit of the 70s show.
Comments (1)
Add a comment »Didn't have high expectations for this film given the director's previous films, but I'm a fan of Ray Winstone and thought I'd give it a go. A good decision as it turns out, because this film is a blast. London has never looked better and it's a proper twisty crime thriller. The chemistry between Plan B (Ben Drew) and Ray Winstone is sparky and believable and the film sprints along at a cracking pace. London looks modern and never sharper (the cinematography by Simon Dennis is beautiful and makes great use of the city's available light), and despite a couple of the usual crime/thriller turns it manged to keep me hooked for the duration. I fancy seeing another instalment of this if they make another. Just can't get enough of Ray.
Posted by | Thursday 13 September 2012 @ 12:47
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