Film review: Third World Cop'
Propelled by a blistering reggae and dancehall soundtrack produced by Sly & Robbie, this shot-on-video Jamaican import is a routine genre item most notable for lead Paul Campbell's sometimes-riveting performance as a hardhearted "Third World Cop" facing off with gunrunning bad guys in Kingston.
The Palm Pictures release opened Friday in New York and looks to be a tough sell across the board. While the music and Jamaican setting will attract a few urban hipsters, the subtitling of many scenes because of the actors' thick accents and use of slang effectively makes "Third World Cop" a foreign film, but one with little to recommend it to curious cineastes.
Making his feature debut, director and co-screenwriter Chris Browne is the nephew of Perry Henzell, director of the 1971 hit "The Harder They Come" starring Jimmy Cliff. Many of the "Third World" production crew and cast also were involved with the 1997 Jamaican film "Dancehall Queen".
A crime-stopping crusader who gets the job done with bullets and brains, Capone (Campbell) in the film's opening sequence makes love with a lady friend and then makes war on some bad guys in a messy shootout. His boss, citing his "effective but not always right" methods, reassigns him to his hometown of Kingston, where there's apparently a need for him to police a notorious slum.
In a new department, where his reputation is immediately questioned by another lives-to-kill-the-bad-guys roughneck dubbed Not Nice (Lenford Salmon), Capone gets an amiable partner (Winston Bell) who is more cautious, and the movie appears headed into "Lethal Weapon" territory. But director Chris Browne and co-writers Suzanne Fenn and Chris Salewicz only flirt with that angle and opt instead for a John Woo-like scenario, with Capone forced to confront childhood friend Ratty (Mark Danvers) about his involvement with the local godfather Oney (Carl Bradshaw).
"Third World Cop" never comes together in a compelling way and finally resorts to many cop-movie cliches for a predictably bloody windup.
THIRD WORLD COP
Palm Pictures in association with Hawk's Nest Prods.
Director: Chris Browne
Screenwriters: Suzanne Fenn, Chris Browne, Chris Salewicz
Producer: Carolyn Pfeiffer Bradshaw
Executive producers: Chris Blackwell, Dan Genetti
Director of photography: Richard Lannaman
Production designer: Richard Lannaman
Editor: Suzanne Fenn
Costume designer: Michelle Haynes
Music: Wally Badarou, Sly & Robbie
Casting: Sheila Lowe Graham, Suzanne Fenn, Sharon Burke
Color/stereo
Cast:
Capone: Paul Campbell
Ratty: Mark Danvers
Oney: Carl Bradshaw
Rita: Audrey Reid
Floyd: Winston Bell
Not Nice: Lenford Salmon
Deportee: Desmond Ballentine (a k a Ninjaman)
Running time -- 98 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
The Palm Pictures release opened Friday in New York and looks to be a tough sell across the board. While the music and Jamaican setting will attract a few urban hipsters, the subtitling of many scenes because of the actors' thick accents and use of slang effectively makes "Third World Cop" a foreign film, but one with little to recommend it to curious cineastes.
Making his feature debut, director and co-screenwriter Chris Browne is the nephew of Perry Henzell, director of the 1971 hit "The Harder They Come" starring Jimmy Cliff. Many of the "Third World" production crew and cast also were involved with the 1997 Jamaican film "Dancehall Queen".
A crime-stopping crusader who gets the job done with bullets and brains, Capone (Campbell) in the film's opening sequence makes love with a lady friend and then makes war on some bad guys in a messy shootout. His boss, citing his "effective but not always right" methods, reassigns him to his hometown of Kingston, where there's apparently a need for him to police a notorious slum.
In a new department, where his reputation is immediately questioned by another lives-to-kill-the-bad-guys roughneck dubbed Not Nice (Lenford Salmon), Capone gets an amiable partner (Winston Bell) who is more cautious, and the movie appears headed into "Lethal Weapon" territory. But director Chris Browne and co-writers Suzanne Fenn and Chris Salewicz only flirt with that angle and opt instead for a John Woo-like scenario, with Capone forced to confront childhood friend Ratty (Mark Danvers) about his involvement with the local godfather Oney (Carl Bradshaw).
"Third World Cop" never comes together in a compelling way and finally resorts to many cop-movie cliches for a predictably bloody windup.
THIRD WORLD COP
Palm Pictures in association with Hawk's Nest Prods.
Director: Chris Browne
Screenwriters: Suzanne Fenn, Chris Browne, Chris Salewicz
Producer: Carolyn Pfeiffer Bradshaw
Executive producers: Chris Blackwell, Dan Genetti
Director of photography: Richard Lannaman
Production designer: Richard Lannaman
Editor: Suzanne Fenn
Costume designer: Michelle Haynes
Music: Wally Badarou, Sly & Robbie
Casting: Sheila Lowe Graham, Suzanne Fenn, Sharon Burke
Color/stereo
Cast:
Capone: Paul Campbell
Ratty: Mark Danvers
Oney: Carl Bradshaw
Rita: Audrey Reid
Floyd: Winston Bell
Not Nice: Lenford Salmon
Deportee: Desmond Ballentine (a k a Ninjaman)
Running time -- 98 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 4/19/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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