The Sweeper
by Joseph Merhi
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: C. Thomas Howell, Ed Lauter, Janet Gunn, Jeff Fahey, Kristen DaltonDirector: Joseph Merhi
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-05-04
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Trinity Home Ent
Movie Reviews of The Sweeper
Movie Review: Short on plot, long on action!
Summary: 5 Stars
In "The Sweeper," C. Thomas Howell of "Red Dawn" and "The Outsiders" fame turns in an Oscar winning performance as a vacuum cleaner looking for love in Los Angeles. Sorry, I couldn't resist. I see this Joseph Merhi actioner listed here as "Sweeper," leaving out the all important "The." Not that it matters. ANYWAY, we've got another low budget action film starring C. Thomas Howell. You should hear alarm bells and see red flags all over the place! What happened to Howell, anyway? How do you go from schmoozing with Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, and Tom Cruise to having your name mentioned in the same sentence with Dean Cain and Lorenzo Lamas? Not good. There was that brief reemergence when he made that volleyball flick with Peter Horton, a movie that played on a perpetual loop on pay cable outlets a decade ago, but the subsequent years have marked a serious reversal of fortune for this once promising actor. I still get a kick out of watching him, but he's definitely not A-list material. No Hollywood mover and shaker would dare take the lead role in this film. Too bad, because Merhi's little actioner is a slam bang, take no prisoners flick that will bring you to your feet again and again.
Howell plays Mark Goddard, your typical out on the edge cop nursing some serious grievances with life. He's always in trouble with the department for taking unnecessary chances, his ex-wife can't stand him, and memories of his father's death plagues his every waking moment. We see what happened to Dad (played by Jeff Fahey) at the beginning of the film. Well, first we see Pop on a typical day patrolling the city. In other words, a chase sequence on a pier results in the death or serious injury of dozens upon dozens of innocent bystanders--all shown in loving close up. Goddard's father saves the day in the end, I guess, only to perish later at home from a shotgun blast to the chest delivered by a gang of crooked cops angered that their fellow officer refused to join their ranks. These guys go ahead and kill Mark's entire family, and even shoot Mark too, but he survives to grow up and become an officer in the fine tradition of his father. Whatta guy! Anyway, this experience has given our anti-hero a rather bleak view of criminals. He would much rather come in with guns blazing than waste time filling out paperwork. We see a few examples of Mark's detective work, one of which involves a really cool scene where he flies off a building with a bad guy.
Goddard is such a loose cannon that a gang of vigilante cops led by a chap named Molls (Ed Lauter) approaches him with a recruitment offer. Mark can kill bad guys all he wants without having to worry about lawyers, laws, and all those other pesky things that get in the way of real police work. He can also have scads of money, fine clothes, and a nice house. To show Mark he's on the up and up, Molls executes a criminal right in front of him. It's hard to turn down such an offer, and soon Goddard is teamed up with a sexy female agent named Rachel (Kristen Dalton) to take down the baddies. While Mark tries to reconcile with his estranged wife--he's now got the money to provide her with anything she needs--he's also busy trying to learn the ropes in his new organization. Tempers flare over some of Goddard's activities. And remember how our hero's father died at the hands of dirty cops? Mark uses his association with the gang to inquire about the whereabouts of some of the officers responsible for the killing. Molls leads him on, always mentioning that he'll provide information as soon as Goddard pulls off one more assignment. You can probably guess what eventually happens. If not, you haven't seen enough of these types of films.
I don't care about the plot. It's basic and helps move the film along. I also don't care about the acting. Howell, Lauter, and the rest give just enough to move the film along. What I do care about is the action, and "The Sweeper" has action seeping out of its every pore. Merhi's film is pure mindless fodder, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The movie is nothing more than a series of explosions and imaginative action scenes stitched together into an hour and a half runtime. With a body count that rises into the triple digits, "The Sweeper" treats us to an extended car chase involving exploding propane tanks sending automobiles flying through the air. We get shoot outs with drug gangs, another extensive shoot out in a heavily guarded compound, foot chases, fist fights, bodies falling out of buildings, and an airplane sequence that sees Mark Goddard hanging onto the wing for dear life. All of these activities come slathered with bursting squibs and ridiculously over the top explosions! Oh yeah! Hardly five minutes go by without a major action sequence taking place. That, my friends, is an action movie!
"The Sweeper" on DVD is a bare bones affair. No extras, not even a trailer, and a full screen presentation to boot. Oh well. You really won't care while you're watching the movie. I'm giving the movie five stars for sheer energy alone. Merhi's film is one of the best action films I've seen this year, and this in spite of the threadbare plot and average acting. Who cares when you've got this many cartwheeling bodies and whizzing bullets? C. Thomas Howell might not be making Oscar winners anymore, but he sure knows how to crank out an entertaining film. I can't praise this film enough!
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