The Sunday Mail
Film Review
Tinashe Kusema
WHEN you take a dying genre, enlist the services of a bunch of talented actors and give them proper material they can work on, you will end up with a product such as “Copshop”.
Under normal circumstances, shoot-em-up movies should have no place in modern cinema, as computer-generated imagery (CGI) and storytelling have become a staple.
But, “Copshop” is such an entertaining movie.
The film is testimony, in part, to the brilliance of Kurt McLeod and Joe Carnahan’s writing and performance.
The production revolves around a con artist and “mob fixer”, Teddy Murretto (Frank Grillo), who goes on the run when a hit is put on him.
When the car he steals breaks down not far from a Nevada casino, Murretto decides that the safest place he could be is in a police station.
He then sucker-punches a rookie cop, Valerie Young (Alexis Louder), so that he can get arrested.
This helps him come up with his next move while under the protection of the Nevada police.
Unfortunately, a bounty placed on him makes famed hitmen Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler) and Anthony Lamb (Toby Huss) see through his plan.
Viddick gets himself arrested as a way to get closer to his mark and kill him.
Lamb takes a more pragmatic route and just invades the police station.
Young, the rookie cop, gets locked in a bulletproof holding cell with Murretto and Viddick, while Lamb, with the aid of a corrupt cop, tries to break in and kill everyone.
It is during this stand-off that details of the entire story start emerging.
Apparently, Murretto turned on his former mob bosses before turning state witness.
Also, it later emerges that he has been on the run after a failed hit involving a couple of corrupt policemen and FBI agents.
Murretto, Viddick and Young get to know each other, with their conversation offering insight into their characters and the larger story or plot.
Young is the moral compass by which we judge the other three main characters.
Viddick, despite being a hired killer, operates by a code, while Murretto is painted as someone who simply has a talent to ‘work’.
Conversely, Lamb is the monkey wrench that writers McLeod and Carnahan throw into the mix.
He is the standard definition of a narcissistic psychopath and derives pleasure from killing people.
While everyone involved does a brilliant job, it is the duo of Butler and Huss that steal the show in terms of performances.
The material is top-notch and so too are deliveries from the actors.
Butler is the embodiment of the tough guy who is a little rough around the edges.
To her credit, Louder holds her own against her more seasoned veteran co-stars and really shows up during the film’s climactic battle.
Without giving too much, the film really delivers on the action front.
It is currently showing at Ster Kinekor and is worth your time.
Yes, every production has its weakness, but the material and performances make up for it.
