
Director : Joe Carnahan – Cast Includes : Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder
If your a fan of the late 60s into the 70s gritty thrillers that starred the likes of Marvin, Eastwood, McQueen and Bronson then find a local cinema that’s showing this bad boy and buy a ticket… you may find yourself in movie heaven as I was listening to it’s punchy Lalo Schifrin’s Magnum Force score reverberate around the cinema, the camera work in the prison cell as it becomes home to Teddy Murretto and I loved the way this slow burning hunk of simplicity grabs you by the throat and just doesn’t let go until it’s final explosive minutes… from it’s rookie cop played by Alexis Louder who’s sooo Harry Callaghan, calm collected and ice cold, the cool as a cucumber hitman Bob Viddick played by Gerard Butler, the devious conman who’ll do anything to save his own ass played by Frank Grillo to the looney tunes psychopath Anthony Lamb brought to life by the brilliant Toby Huss who’s mobster for hire is the dogs bollocks… the writing by Kurt McLeod is slick & effective and when you consider the majority of the film is set inside the Copshop I found myself utterly invested, loving every minute of the characters banter and humor, drooling over the second half shootout and found it’s runtime just flying by : Joe Carnahan’s COPSHOP is big screen dynamite, an excellent thriller and unlike anything you’ll see this year !! ★★★★½
