Mean Machine

A remake of Sharkey’s Machine, itself a lesser entry in the Burt Reynolds canon, which is quite some accomplishment. This purpose-built Vinnie Jones vehicle casts the ex-Wimbledon terrorizer as a former England captain who goes down when he gets pissed and beats up a copper. Soon enough, we’re in familiar territory as we encounter a corrupt governor, crooked screws and the inevitable organised football game (Inmates vs. Screws, which in London would be a we-never-made-it version of Millwall vs. Charlton) While the resulting film doesn’t exactly match up to Guy Ritchie’s work in terms of visual flair, and Vinnie’s thespian talents still seem profoundly limited, Mean Machine is genuinely funny and enjoyable beyond all expectation, and certainly cuts it as one of the better recent Brit-flicks. (Besides, it transpires that Vinnie had thrown an England-Germany international, which might go some way to accounting for all those revenge-for-Dresden scorelines up until 2001).