MOVIE REVIEWS

Review by John Chard

Cop out of water - big time! Police Officer Alex Kearney is a keen by the book cop who's happy with his beat in a nice part of Philadelphia. Unfortunately his adherence to the rules lands him in trouble with his chiefs after he tries to arrest an important businessman who has long standing police connections. When his side of the story is not believed, he is given the choice of suspension or a transfer to downtown. Choosing the transfer, Kearney isn't quite prepared for just how dangerous and crime filled downtown actually is. Worse still, his new tough no nonsense partner positively hates him! It's churlish to suggest that Downtown is merely a cash in of the buddy buddy inter racial cop movies, that, as we know, were made viable entertainment fare by the likes of Lethal Weapon and Beverly Hills Cop. Starring Forest Whitaker (Dennis Curren) and Anthony Edwards (Alex Kearney), Downtown is as much about a fish out of water scenario than it is polar opposite cops working together. With both things dovetailing together to create an engaging actioner that's worth the time of those who are stuck for something light to watch. Suffering a touch in the last finale due to an inevitable mawkish character strand, some minor irks stop this from reaching greater heights, chiefly that David Clennon's barely grumpy villain is just not strong enough for some dramatic heft. However, there's some genuinely funny scenes between Edwards and Whitaker, the action set-pieces are well staged and thus Downtown gets most of the genre's requisites right. Nice Nice support comes from Joe Pantoliano as a bizarre looking hit-man and Penelope Ann Miller as Kearney's fraught girlfriend, Lori Mitchell. 6.5/10