*JOE rolls over the hood of his car*
When it comes to movie cops, we prefer ours to fall firmly into the ‘maverick’ category.
We like the ones that don’t listen to their overly-bureaucratic boss and will stop at nothing until evil wrongdoers are behind bars.
So, to celebrate Jameson Cult Film Club’s showing of Lethal Weapon (which you can sign up for here) on May 22 & 23, we’ve picked our 15 favourite maverick cops.
15. Vincent Hanna (Heat)
Messy home life? Check.
Hatred of superiors? Check.
Willingness to walk through a shower of bullets to catch the bad guy? DEFINITELY check.
14. Bud White (LA Confidential)
Russell Crowe plays unhinged well… a little too well if you ask us.
13. The Lieutenant (Bad Lieutenant)
Harvey Keitel’s character was almost beyond help in this cult classic.
12. Frank Bullitt (Bullitt)
Maverick cops will always be in fashion, just like Bullitt’s epic ability to look super cool while conducting boring tasks.
11. Rick Deckard (Blade Runner)
“They don’t advertise for killers in the newspaper. That was my profession.”
Why, how maverick of you Rick.
10. Jack Cates (48 Hours)
Taking a smart-ass criminal out of jail to catch a cop killer is not the act of a man who has respect for his superiors. Also, he takes a basketball to the face like no other.
9. John Spartan (Demolition Man)
He couldn’t find his place in this futuristic, strange society. He still managed to catch the bad guy, breaking as many rules as he possibly could along the way.
8. Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (The French Connection)
He chases a perp across a building while dressed as Santa Claus, before giving him a beating. Yeah, he definitely deserves his place on the list.
7. Gerry Boyle (The Guard)
A little unhinged, but in a good way. This guy is a maverick cop, Irish style.
6. Serpico (Serpico)
A good guy, among a sea of crooks.
5. Axel Foley (Beverly Hills Cop)
His boss hated him, he accidentally blew things up and every now and again he got shot. Definitely a worthy inclusion in our top 5.
4. Frank Drebin (Naked Gun)
A knack for saying the wrong thing at the right time saw Frank in plenty of trouble, but it also saw him catch plenty of baddies.
3. Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry)
“Do you feel lucky?” We certainly wouldn’t if we were going against this supreme maverick.
2. John McClane (Die Hard)
A lone wolf who was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. And so were the criminals, who ended up “yippe-kay-ayed.”
1. Martin Riggs (Lethal Weapon)
The supreme maverick cop.
He was completely unhinged, he didn’t respect authority, but he did get the job done… all in spite of his weird dietary habits.
So there you have it. Fifteen men who should probably hand their badge in and report to the sergeant’s office.
We don’t care if you’re getting too old for this sh**, Jameson Cult Film Club is screening one of the greatest action movies of our generation on May 22 & 23 in a secret city centre location.
They recently showed Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and it was absolutely mint.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvP_xPBGTUs&feature=youtu.be
Sign up here and never miss another fantastic Jameson Cult Film Club event.
Be there, or be square… like Murtaugh.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
