Hot Fuzz (****)

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(2007) dir. Edgar Wright – w/ Simon Pegg as the dutifully over-efficient constable, Nick Frost as his bumbling partner in the country, and a slew of other notables: Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, Edward Woodward–the Equalizer, folks!–, Timothy Dalton as the unctuously murderous supermarket magnate, Cate Blanchett with a mask over her face, and Peter Jackson as a crazed mall Santa. What’s not to love?

Synopsis: Nicholas Angel has only ever wanted to be a police officer–except that brief moment where he wanted to be Kermit the frog–and for his diligence, efficiency, and excellence, his fellow officers are made to look lazy. So of course he’s promoted to the countryside, where things are quiet, he arrests his would-be partner for drunk driving, and a swan’s on the loose. Of course, things are never quite so bucolic and peaceful as they seem at first glance…

Review: Hot Fuzz is, in a word, brilliant. It parodies the big budget American cop film, but in a different way than a parallel universe American counterpart would. (It’s not a straight parody, for starters.) Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg possess a strange intuition of when going overboard suits the film, and when playing it straight holds everything together. The quips and puns are packed to an absurd density, but that doesn’t prevent the citizens of this fine movie from being earnest from time to time. Except Timothy Dalton, whose character really doesn’t have an appropriate moment to be earnest. And a couple other people. But it’s a lovely movie. Full of explosions and sight gags and self-referential humor and blood. Something for everyone. It’s kind of like ‘Lethal Weapon’ meets ‘The Full Monty’, though of course there are a few differences.

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Rating: [••••] out of [•••••] – (4/5)