THE LION'S GAME

Adorably foul-mouthed NYPD cop John Corey, introduced in DeMille's Plum Island, returns in this thriller that pairs terrific suspense with nonstop wisecracking. Corey, now a reluctant special agent for the ATTF (Anti-Terrorist Task Force), finds himself hunting down a vicious Libyan terrorist who has slipped into the U.S. to carry out a bloody personal vendetta. DeMille sweeps you along with his masterful crosscutting between the good guys and the bad, slaying both the extremist Middle Eastern mindset and our own lowbrow American culture, and stumbles only with a disappointingly prosaic finale. Luckily, Corey's crass good humor is there to save the day. A- -- Charles Winecoff