The Sweeney
E1 Entertainment | Release Date: March 1, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
7
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreFeb 26, 2013
A down-and-dirty genre picture that manages a couple of decent plot twists, a couple of passable car chases and two epic shoot-outs. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranFeb 28, 2013
Don't look for The Sweeney to win any awards. It's not going to, not even close. But that doesn't stop it from being 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 full review
60
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFeb 28, 2013
Simon Dennis’s photography is glossy and crisp, and a lengthy foot chase — making excellent use of the National Gallery — is inventively choreographed. And if the villains are little more than fireplugs in balaclavas, the violence they provoke is satisfyingly vicious. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithFeb 28, 2013
I don’t know how many sex scenes featuring Winstone and Atwell you can handle, but the movie breaches my limit, which is a firm zero. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 28, 2013
The movie has a certain integrity and creates an interesting atmosphere, largely thanks to the soundtrack, of all things, which gives most moments a dreamy undertone. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesOmer M. MozaffarFeb 27, 2013
Somewhere in the laundry list of clichés, there is a movie here that we have already seen and forgotten. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubSam AdamsFeb 27, 2013
From its lone-wolf mythology to the high, pealing guitar wails in its score, The Sweeney plays like a forgotten ’80s action movie recently discovered in a dusty vault. A treat, perhaps, for those who prefer their cop thrillers pre-meta, but tiresomely plodding for everyone else. Read full review
40
Village VoicePete Vonder HaarMar 1, 2013
The Sweeney—a new British police drama—feels a lot like an American-made cop movie circa 1990. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearFeb 26, 2013
Fans of the gritty, era-defining precinct drama will bristle at how the program's realism has been replaced by a generic Tinseltown U.K. slickness. But regardless of whether you’re a longtime devotee or not, you’ll be left saying, “This is The Sweeney? I’ve been rooked.” Read full review
25
The PlaylistGabe ToroMar 4, 2013
Up until the very very end (which uncorks a CLASSIC cop cliché that seemed long dead by now), The Sweeney is straight dumb procedural, no chaser. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineChris CabinFeb 27, 2013
Clichés abound, even in the look of the film, which toggles between post-Ritchie crime-violence burlesque and sleek, Nolanesque faux-grandeur. Read full review
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