211

Election is coming closer to Sweden. On September 9th we will see if our Prime Minister Stefan Löfven will stay on his position, or if we will have a new Prime Minister in Sweden. And all over the news, you hear about the political leaders, discussing what we need to improve in Sweden. One of the things that are being discussed are to make sure that Swedish police have more new educated police officers. And i agree, we need more police officers in society, to make sure people feel safe and to stand up against criminals. In Hollywood we have seen so many police movies, you can mention a never ending list of titles. But let´s just talk about about two i feel is worthy to mention. First of, we have Training Day, released in 2001 by director Antoine Fuqua. What made Training Day into such a powerful film about police officers, is the way the film tells the story, about two police officers who live very different lives. You have the corrupt police officer known as Detective Alonzo ( played fantastic by legendary actor Denzel Washington ), who makes up his own rules, and don´t follow any laws. Then you have the police officer Jake Hoyt ( with a really strong performance from Ethan Hawke ), who wants to do right and follow the law. Even if this film is now 17 years old, it is still very effective today to remind us that anyone can be corrupted. I suggest you watch it on Netflix, or perhaps even on Blu Ray and listen to some special features. The next police film i feel we should mention here is the 2002 film known as Narc, directed by Joe Carnahan. Maybe not as powerful as Training Day, but the performances from actors Jason Patric and Ray Liotta are the reasons why i really enjoy this film. Especially the performance of Ray Liotta as Detective Henry Oak. Narc is a great choice, if you want to see a well made police movie, with good acting included. There used to be a time in Hollywood, when legendary actor Nicolas Cage delivered some really good classics. Of course we could talk about Wild At Heart, Leaving Las Vegas or Kiss Of Death. But one of the films i have always loved with Nicolas Cage, is of course one of the best action films known as The Rock, directed by Michael Bay. I can´t remember how many times i have seen this film, but this is still one of the best action films made in the 90´s. Not only is this a really good action film, i love so many characters in this film as well. Especially legendary actor Sean Connery in the role as Captain John Patrick, the perfect choice for a film like this. I have to say that legendary actor Michael Biehn as Commander Anderson is one of the highlights of this film. Let´s not forget that Nicolas Cage actually did a really good performance in this film. In recent years it has been a very hard time for Nicolas Cage, releasing almost only straight to DVD films. I came across one of his latest films called 211, and thought i should give it a try. A police film with Nicolas Cage, could this be one of the highlights of this year, or is this another proof that Cage made another bad career choice ?

Police officer Steve MacAvoy ( Dwayne Cameron ) just found out that he will be a father from his wife Lisa MacAvoy ( Sophie Skelton ). The couple is very excited, but Lisa wish her father Police officer Mike Chandler ( Nicolas Cage ) would be closer to her, now that he is about to become a grandfather. Steve works together with Mike, so he brings up the news. Mike seems to be happy about their baby, even though you can tell he have personal issues to deal with. When a young student named Kenny ( Michael Rainey Jr. ) gets in trouble at school, for hitting a bully in the face, he is ordered to go on a ride along with Police officers Steve and Mike. The idea is for him to see how real life is out on the streets. Mike accidently spots that a bank is being robbed, and can´t leave the location, even if the student is in their Police car. A gang of criminals are not giving up their mission to get all the money, no matter how many lives will be lost.

211 is the perfect example of how Police action movies were made in the early 90´s. A lot of shooting, and some really bad dialogue, mixed with actors that don´t really take their characters seriously. If you happen to love all of this, i think this might be the masterpiece you always dreamed of. Since this is a Nicolas Cage film, you know this is no guarantee that everything is great. He have only done a few good films over the last 10 years, and this is not one of them. Nicolas Cage as Police officer Mike Chandler, is actually not as terrible as you might expect. He is one of the reasons why this film deliver some entertainment. Of course he acts out, like he usually does. And maybe this is why we always return to watch his latest films, because we like him as an actor. The rest of the cast is very divided from an acting perspective. The few characters that i enjoyed in this film is Bank director Randal, played by actor Velizar Binev. The scenes where he is in, is exactly what this film needs. A character that feels interesting, something that this film should have included more of. The bully school victim Kenny, played by actor Michael Rainey Jr. is one of the characters that you would have liked to see more of. He does get some stand alone scenes towards the end, but not that many dialogue chances. So what else is positive about 211 ? The bank robbery scenes looks ok, they seem to have tried to make it look like a realistic robbery. The robbery characters also do a descent job in their performances. The action scenes are not all terrible, but what strikes me with this film, is that there is no real power in the action scenes. If you are going to have a lot of people shooting, you need to make it effective. And this is one of those things that could have been fixed, before the film started shooting. As this film stands now, it is just an action film that you really won´t remember. Director York Alec Shackelton might have had a vision to make an action film that would be appreciated by fans, who gladly pick up direct to DVD action films. But since this film falls pretty flat in this category, there is not a lot to be happy about. If we would not have Nicolas Cage in this film, i think we might have had a even worse film. He saves this film from falling apart, in every possible way. If only actor Velizar Biney could have had a bigger role in this film, we could have something to be happy about. 211 is not a film i can imagine will be seen by many people, and there is a good reason for that. A film that leaves no impact in any way. If you like action films, watch the 1996 classic The Rock instead, that is how you want a real action film to look like, that includes Nicolas Cage.

Rating: DD