“Nothing much happens in Providence” says seriously bad police officer Terry Brogan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to his new partner Will (Himesh Patel) on his first training day in the job.
As they drive off on patrol, with heavy metal blasting away on the radio, he advises him to get a hobby adding, “don’t kill anyone unless you have to”.
Left alone in the car, while Terry visits his married Chinese lover, Will answers a police call to what he believes is a robbery in progress. Gun drawn, he enters a mansion and in the resulting chaos Virginia (Traci Lords) the wife of wealthy seafood magnate Wallace (Blake Nelson) is accidentally killed.
The discovery of a big bag of money leads to the two officers making a really bad decision. They decide the best thing to do is to make the woman’s death appear to be the result of a robbery gone wrong, and hide the money, to be divided at a later date.
Flashbacks show that Virginia has had the daily attention of a masseur called Keith (Simon Rex).
Meantime Wallace has hired an assassin (who advertises in the local paint shop) to kill his wife, so that he can carry on an affair with his secretary.
Police chief Murphy (Uzo Abuda) is the only person who has a handle on all this.
The film was directed by Potsy Ponciroli (Old Henry) and written by Mike Vickadinovich (The Priest).
In spite of a strong cast, which included Lily James as Will’s pregnant wife, I found the film farcical and predictable, but an audience of popcorn eaters reacted with enthusiasm.
112 minutes.
Now showing at Luna Leederville.
Watch the trailer…
