Third World Cop (1999)

Shot on the streets of Kingston and set to a rich reggae score by Sly and Robbie, the highest-grossing film in Jamaican cinema (according to the producers) is a simple cops-and-gangsters thriller that drops the usual two-fisted cop clichés into the slums of a Third World reality. Charismatic Paul Campbell (who starred in the previous Jamaican hit Dancehall Queen) is Capone, a Jamaican Dirty Harry who wades into shootouts with both guns blazing. His maverick reputation lands him in Kingston, his hometown, where he tracks a gun-smuggling scheme to his boyhood friend Ratty (Mark Danvers), now the ambitious right-hand man to the local kingpin. It's a familiar story and the timid script always chooses action over drama. Capone's violent methods are never questioned, even when he's faced with old friends instead of faceless hoods, and he's given unimaginable leeway to shoot his way through the criminal population. Shot on digital video and released to theaters in a smeary-looking transfer, the video release is mastered from the digital source and looks infinitely better than its theatrical incarnation: crisp, bright, and vivid. The energetic style helps the picture overcome some of its generic cop-movie clichés, but the real draw is the street grit of clapboard houses, corrugated metal fences, and concrete brick homes: the matter-of-fact poverty of Kingston's slums. --Sean Axmaker


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