The Sweeney (2012)
Talk about mixed feelings whilst watching a film. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or just plain old enjoy this recent reworking of a classic seventies tv series.
Despite the best efforts of director Nick Love and stars Ray Winstone, Ben Drew and Damien Lewis i just never felt this worked as The Sweeney. Sure it's violent, gritty and very sweary but it's also plain daft, with Winstone's now cartoon like Cockney charisma an embarrassment. Every time the words Regan, Carter, and Flying Squad came out of Winstone's mouth i cringed, when he snarled "We're the Sweeney...you're nicked" i almost spat out my drink.
However if you scratch away all The Sweeney elements you are left with a decent old school cop film about an overweight, old style copper struggling to adjust to modern day policing and coming into conflict about the handling of a bank robbery with Internal Affairs.
Despite my criticism of Winstone as Regan he plays this rather well, as does his younger partner Carter as played by Ben Drew, a youthful officer who will surely end up on the other side of prison bars sooner or later.
Director Nick Love (The Firm, Outlaw, The Football Factory) has made a career out of this type of film and it shows well here with some intense gun fights in the London streets especially one in Trafalgar Square and a crazy car chase through a caravan park.
Interestingly the car chase was actually done by the Top Gear team with Clarkson, Hammond and May credited as stunt drivers. This sequence was integrated into that show during episode 3 of series 18 and has a decent making of on the dvd as well.
All in all there's no way i can recommend The Sweeney as it's dreadful in it's execution of what it's supposed to be - a seventies cop show redux.
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