Hot Fuzz

Green's Peachy Keen Review:

When I first saw this title in Scribe's list of choices for our next review, my first thought was that I had never heard of it. My second thought was that he dared to include a porn flick for us to review (which would be one reason why I hadn't heard of it before). I decided then to look it up at www.imdb.com and www.amazon.com and was pleased that my first impression was not even close to what I had thought.

This is the story of Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), the most efficient cop... umm, police officer, that London has ever seen. So good is Angel that he makes the rest of the police force look bad by comparison. Naturally, instead of rewarding him for a job well done, they get him out of town as quickly as possible and transfer him to the quaint and quiet little town of Sanford, England. But is it? Things are not always quite what they seem.

Angel is partnered with klutzy PC Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), son of Sanford's police chief, Inspector Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent), who dreams of being a bada$$ cop like in the movies. The overly intense Angel quickly realizes that there's more than meets the eye in this backwards little hamlet after a series of grisly and suspicious deaths, that the inept Sanford Police Department pans off as a string of "bad accidents".

When Angel gets too close to the truth, he becomes the target.

This film really is an excellent comedy, despite all of the blood, guts and shootouts. It subtlety makes fun of cop movies, westerns and even takes a page from "The Matrix" near the end. The cast is marvelous, especially Broadbent and a very slimy Timothy Dalton (Simon Skinner). The filming style is hard to describe but works well. While it will never be considered a classic, the script is excellently written and the story definitely moves along crisply for a two hour film.

If you haven't seen this movie, you should.

**** out of *****

Scribe's Review is the Cat's Meow:

Now Green is finally becoming cool! He finally understands why these guys are my new heroes. Re-teaming from their triumphant Shaun of the Dead horror film parody, my favorite Gen-X Brits are back poking fun at the action movie genre... about ten years too late.

And that is the only drawback to this nearly flawless film. Had it been made in 1998, we might have been spared some truly awful actioners. But don't count that against it. This film is hilarious and well-acted.

American critics expressed concern over this film's appeal to audiences over here because they were afraid we wouldn't get the main focal point of the humor: The concept that small, idyllic English countryside towns are that way because nobody accepts any form of change...EVER. But I tend to think anyone who has spent time in truly old small towns in this country will understand.

Leave it to a Big City cop to bust open the biggest conspiracy the UK has ever seen with explosive results. I don't want to ruin this film by discussing specific scenes. Just rent the goddam thang!!!

****1/2 out of *****


Ahem. I've always been cool. Ahem.

I know you have, sweetie. I know you have...

Damn straight.