I'm sure the tongue is definitely in the cheek with this movie, well I hope so because the first half of the film introduces you to the most dislikable group of police officer possible.

Even the main character, JJ, has her demons, but she's the most pleasant of this odious bunch.

There's a serial killer on the loose but nobody seems to care, as a side episode a body turns up on the river but various police officers ignore it to avoid doing paperwork. I'm sure this is dig at police corruption from whoever made the film in the first place. The last twenty minutes is slightly better when we find out who the killer is revealed.

Thankfully a short film.

A gritty, gripping thriller, Redball is set in the morally ambivalent world of a group of police officers in Australia. A blackly comic running gag is typical: a dead body, floating in the water, is ignored several times by officers who want to avoid the tedious paperwork involved in fishing it out. Meanwhile, a serial killer is on the loose, the Vice Squad are busy shaking down the porn merchants, and the guys of the Drug Squad are ready to overlook the possession of a couple of joints by some young girls in exchange for sexual favours. The members of the public are no better, showing an unhealthy fascination with the grisly details of the serial killer. Even J J Wilson (Belinda McClory), a dedicated officer who wants to track down the man who is murdering young children, is not above breaking the law to get results. But the pressure of her job is getting to her - and the internal politics which threaten to undermine her work.

Shot on digital video, the picture quality is sometimes visibly inferior to film; on the other hand, it gives the story an immediate, natural feel that is perfect for this intense narrative. With a driving music score and pacy, effective editing, Redball is an excellent, compelling film.

This is what "The Shield" would look like if there were only Vic Mackeys on a very bad day and no detectives Wymms or Wagenbach around to uphold moral standards. In this little Aussie thriller cops are at the center of everything, but what cops they are: Everybody, really everybody, in Melbourne's police force seems to be corrupt or willing to break the laws. In one of its strong scenes you can see how even young and idealistic cops are drawn into this behavior, with corruption being like a contagious virus carried over from the older, more crooked cops. Even nominal heroine JJ Wilson (Belinda McClory,The Matrix's Switch) is only marginally better then the rest and in the single most intense scene of the film she nearly suffocates a suspect. She draws the line, however, when the case of a child murderer leads into the police force as well...

"Redball" packs a punch with its "Seven"-styled title sequence but quickly loses its way a bit through too many vignettes showing dirty cops doing bad things. Unlike "The Shield" there is virtually no character development and the audience does not come around to care for most of the secondary policemen characters. This is not helped by some substandard acting from the Aussie actors portraying them. Only Wilson and John Brumpton as her partner give memorable performances. A good soundtrack and some arresting visuals cannot compensate for the shortcomings of a film that is too meandering in its structure (despite the short running time), has no characters we care about and is more dull than edgy in its unrelenting portrayal of crooked cops. While watchable if you're tired of "gooody-two-shoes" heroes, it falls short of having anything meaningful to say about these less-than-likable characters and thus sinks like the body in the river which numerous cops ignore as not to bother with the paperwork. A Redball - an important breakthrough in a big case - this movie ain't.