I recently watched the movie Third World Cop and I have to say that it is a great movie for the Jamaican patois student or anyone who wants to learn to speak Jamaican. The film is based in Kingston, Jamaica and has a Jamaican cast made up of famous dancehall artists like Elephant Man and Ninjaman and many prominent Jamaican actors and actresses. For anyone who has watched Dancehall Queen, many cast members also play a role in Third World Cop, such as Paul Campbell, Mark Danvers, and Audrey Reid.
The film is the story of a Kingston police bureau who calls himself Capone (Paul Campbell). Capone is transferred from Port Antonio back to Kingston in an effort to crack down on organized crime that occurs in the Dungle neighborhood of Kingston, where Capone is from. Upon his return to Kingston, Capone is assigned the task of investigating gun smuggling in the neighborhood. When Capone goes to the Dungle, he learns that his best friend’s little brother, Ratty, is a great community leader. Although Ratty is a hero in the community, he is far more involved in the underworld’s dealings than people would like to believe. When Capone finds out that Ratty is involved, he does everything he can to stop and help Ratty and also to stop the criminal kingpins who weaponize the neighborhood.
I don’t want to give away too much of the movie because I really think it holds a special place for the person looking to learn to speak Jamaican. No, the movie will never be a Hollywood blockbuster and it’s not the best cinematic quality, but there are so many other gems in this movie. From a linguistic perspective, this film is in the top 5 for Jamaican patois. The language used heavily throughout the film is patois and the DVD allows you to use subtitles so this really helps improve your understanding. The film’s most famous patois expression is “We run tings, tings nuh run we”. The pronunciation is that of native speakers so you hear the words in the right context and emotions. You also see people greeting each other and just interacting every day. This is invaluable and makes the movie worth watching.
From a cultural point of view, the film also sheds light on the “bad man” element of Jamaica. This is a recurring theme in many Jamaican movies. A “bad man” is a gangster by all intents and purposes intensive and many of the non-Rastafarian focused Jamaican films put an emphasis on the Jamaican gangster element. Along with the “bad man”, you see the role of the police in Jamaican society and how much respect or disrespect they are held by the community. Finally, like most films based in the developing world, there is a glimpse of the struggle of people trying to make something of themselves, but still being held back by other forces.
All things considered, I say this movie is well worth your time and truly worth buying. As mentioned, the movie is invaluable for learning to speak Jamaican. I highly recommend this movie.