The Sweeney 2012

Critics score:
47 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: Mr. Winstone chews on this Cockney cops-and-robbers caper with foulmouthed glee. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: [Winstone] radiates such a threatening vibe that he doesn't have to say a word to make your hair stand on end. And his grim, glowering work in "The Sweeney" ranks up there with his best. Read more

Sam Adams, AV Club: The only thing more tiresome than a gritty reboot of a TV series is a gritty reboot of an unfamiliar TV series. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Maybe it worked in the '70s; it's too worn to work these days. Ray Winstone needs to find better rocks to chew on. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: A briskly involving British crime entertainment of the old school. You've seen the type, and more than once, but the genre still has enough juice to take us for a ride. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Winstone is, as always, perfectly believable as a tough guy and after a slow start - due, somewhat, to American ears adjusting to those problematic accents - the film hits a groove. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Based on a '70s British program, this is a bombastic effort that, while not successful, is still as bracing as a cold pint. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The movie blithely repeats most of the cliches of the American badass-cop flick, only in impenetrable Cockney. Read more

Omer Mozaffar, Chicago Sun-Times: Somewhere in the laundry list of cliches, there is a movie here that we have already seen and forgotten. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: This might just be a British thing that we don't understand - literally. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: It's Winstone who keeps 'The Sweeney' on the right side of duff. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Regardless of whether you're a longtime devotee or not, you'll be left saying, "This is The Sweeney? I've been rooked." Read more

Pete Vonder Haar, Village Voice: [It] feels a lot like an American-made cop movie circa 1990. Read more