Sweeney!

Super explosive, super-action packed and so very, very Seventies – what’s not to like about this Brit-crime caper – a spin-off from the hugely popular TV-Series The Sweeney starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman.

We’re not wasting time and it’s straight into the action when, during a political conference, the lover/prostitute of a high-ranking MP is killed. Enter Charles Baker (Ian Bannen) - married, clean-living and tipped as the future Prime Minister. He’s about to secure a mega deal with OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), a deal that is to stabilise the global oil market and boost Britain’s reputation as a major player. Sure enough the last thing that’s needed is a scandal. So when Charles Baker’s mistress Janice Wyatt (Lynda Bellingham) is lured into a luxury hotel room where Charles will join her, the assembled party (henchmen working for a certain organisation) inject her with a deadly dose of barbiturates. By placing a fake farewell letter at her bedside they make it look like suicide.
Soon DI Jack Regan (John Thaw) and DS George Carter (Dennis Waterman) are on the case and it doesn’t take long before they come to realise that their investigation opens more than just a can of worms! Unbeknownst to Regan – and initially even to MP Baker – there is much more to this case than meets the eye… and Baker’s shady and unscrupulous American press secretary Elliot McQueen (Barry Foster) pulls all the strings in this foulest of plays!

Smelling a rat, though oblivious that McQueen is the biggest rat of them all, Regan doesn’t believe for one moment that Miss Wyatt committed suicide although the coroner seems to have different ideas. Or is it all a cover-up and if so, why? Soon, Regan and Carter aren’t just battling ruthless criminals but also the hierarchy of the Met as well as the British security services. As the body count rises and the thugs don’t even shy away from setting up Regan by kidnapping him and pouring a bottle of whiskey down his gullet – resulting in his temporary suspension from police work – he realises that he doesn’t have too many allies willing to help him. A ray of hope emerges when the ever-scheming McQueen puts Regan in touch with ‘press secretary’ Bianca Hamilton (Diane Keen) – a fellow prostitute who was the flatmate of the murdered Janice. When Regan knocks on her door it takes only minutes before McQueens’ henchmen are hot on the heels and bullets begin to fly left, right and centre… Finally Regan and Carter come to realise that the murdered persons all had link in common: McQueen! But trying to expose his involvement in the crimes, let alone arrest him, turns out to be another challenge for our tough-as-nails detectives…

Cracking performances all ‘round with stellar performances from all the leads – in particular Thaw, Waterman and Foster. The action is brutal and there’s a fair bit of nudity (though harmless by nowadays standards) – in short, there’s not let up whatsoever. Godam awful sexist jokes aside (“Do you know why there’s so much food at the wedding? To keep the bride open wide”) this is as fierce as it gets and a must not only for SWEENEY fans but for fans of 70’s cop thrillers!