A policeman’s lot is quite a gruesome one
Another slab of in-your-face comic genius from Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and many of the usual suspects from Spaced.
The story – somewhat light though it may be in parts – is simple. A big-city cop gets injured and is shipped off to some backwater town to play out his days until retirement. Nick Angel (Pegg) has an impressive arrest record and a keen eye for laws being broken. It is only fitting, therefore, that his partner should be a bumbling country copper with a distinct preference for Cornetto ice cream over any actual police work.
During the course of this two-hour romp (in which many famous faces appear to be enjoying themselves immensely) several film genres are picked up, shaken around a bit and hurled into the mix. The humour ranges from the referential and obscure to the blatant and scatological. One scene that springs to mind is Angel describing an accident scene to the two suspiciously Sweeney-style detective constables. Every time he mentions “skid-marks”, one of them sniggers. Highbrow stuff, indeed.
It’s also surprisingly unpleasant in more than a few places. There were a couple of times when my good lady disappeared into the kitchen saying “Oh, that’s horrible.” The fact it works at all is a testament to the love of movies that is shared by Pegg and Frost and the fact they use their knowledge to good advantage.
With strong language and violence throughout this is not a kid’s movie but, if you have any sense of humour at all, you won’t regret seeing it. Superb stuff.
P.S. I’m not giving away any plot spoilers, but keep your eye on that swan!
121 mins.