THIRD WORLD COP
Reviewed by Harvey Karten Palm Pictures Director: Chris Browne Writer: Chris Browne, Suzanne Fenn, and Chris Salewicz Cast: Winston Bello Bell, Carl Bradshaw, Paul Campbell, Mark Danvers, Audrey Reid
A forlorn Harry Belafonte once sang, "My heart is down/ My head is turning aroun'/ I had to leave a little girl in Kingston- town." The aki, rice and the fish are still nice in Jamaica's capital but the island paradise of Belafonte's memories has greater problems than broken hearts in Chris Browne's "Third World Cup." Browne takes us inland to Kingston, to neighborhoods of the island that few tourists see or care to, given the penchant of Americans and Europeans for the beaches of Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. "Third World Cop" conveys memories of Perry Henzell's 1973 cult favorite "The Harder They Come"--about a country boy who goes to Kingston to make it as a singer but whose record climbs the charts only after he turns to a life of crime. That film, starring Jimmy Cliff, is credited almost single-handedly with launching the reggae craze in America. Browne's new film also bears a generous and bouncy reggae soundtrack, particularly the lilting "We Run Tings" performed by Red Dragon, and a few numbers from Grammy Award winners Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare who also produced the soundtrack. But despite its incredible popularity back home in Jamaica where ten percent of the adult population has purportedly seen the box-office blockbuster, as a police drama the movie's most recommendable feature is its unintentional comedy.
North Americans will probably want to compare "Third World Cop" to Gordon Parks's "Shaft," which came out two years before Perry Henzell's classic. Browne gets some calculated grins whenever he contrasts crackerjack, Shaft-like law enforcer Capone (popular Jamaican actor Paul Campbell) with his plump and bumbling Keystone-Cop partner Floyd (Winston Bell), but the real fun of the movie comes from the simplistic, amateurish shootouts. The story is for the most part so unambiguous that unlike even the great James Bond, Capone is never injured nor is there ever a hint that he may be up against forces he cannot control. As the reggae song goes and as Capone himself intones, "We control things...things don't control we." The central thrust of the tale is the struggle between a good man, Capone, and his long-term boyhood friend who has turned to a life of crime, Ratty (Mark Danvers).
The story opens as Capone, stationed with the Port Antonio police force, is interrupted by thugs in the midst of a sexual liaison. After Capone demonstrates that he is not much into due process but is perfectly willing to set a previous jury ruling of "not guilty" right, Capone is transferred to the capital city of his youth, Kingston, where a man of his vigor is needed to break up a gun-running scheme. Learning that the man he had once treated like a brother, Ratty, is involved with local crime lord Wonie (Carl Bradshaw), he seeks to make Ratty an honest man again, a guy whose talent with kids could make him a fine social worker. For his part, Ratty tries to bring Capone into a partnership with him, promising Capone great deal more money than he could ever make with the Jamaica police department. =
The struggle for men's minds takes a back seat to feverish gun play in which Capone, outnumbered and outgunned (he carries two pistols while the forces of evil brandish Uzis), easily overcomes the hoodlums who have set up shop in one of Jamaica's many shantytowns. The obligatory romance theme involves Capone's childhood sweetheart, Rita (Audrey Reid--who comes across more as a transsexual than a femme fatale)--and is underdeveloped. =
We can safely presume that the box office popularity of "Third World Cop" in its home country has more to do with the popularity of its star performer and with the accent on action than with any sort of dramatic complexity. For those not familiar with Jamaican patois, the movie is subtitled but only for those parts of the screenplay that would be as incomprehensible as "Trainspotting"-style Scottish. The picture is suffused with washed-out colors that make it appear as though it were transferred from video, which doesn't detract too much considering that the locales used as background for the gunplay are more generic than Jamaican.
Not Rated. Running Time: 98 minutes. (C) 2000 Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com
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