ZEE'S REVIEWS

17th May 2009
Hot Fuzz (2007)

Hot Fuzz is one of the best movies I have seen this year. It looks deceptively like a parody of police action movies. It is much more.

Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the best police officer in the London Met - relentless, brave, and totally dedicated to his job. He is so good, in fact, that he makes everyone else look bad. So his frustrated superiors pack him off to the countryside - specifically, the sleepy town of Sandford, notable for being multiple winner of the Village of the Year award.

Nicholas hates being stuck in this rural backwater with nothing to do except discipline underage drinkers and track down stray livestock. It doesn't help that he is saddled with a partner like Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), a hapless young man who embodies the stereotype of the slow and bumbling police officer, but hugely admires Nicholas's heroics.

And then a spate of gruesome unexplained accidents occurs, leading Nicholas to suspect a serial killer is on the loose...

Hot Fuzz is a joy to watch from start to finish. It moves at a cracking pace, and is both hilarious and heartwarming. It deconstructs the genre of the police action movie, poking gentle fun at its cliches while shamelessly milking them for maximum effect. And it provides a genuinely moving character arc for Nicholas, who grows through his experiences and begins to make human connections.

This reviewer also enjoyed the resonances with Life On Mars, which likewise features an excessively driven police officer who finds himself in strange territory and must learn to adapt.

One of my personal articles of faith is that good comedy is harder to do than good drama. But even harder than either is blending the two, which Hot Fuzz succeeds in doing with a deft touch and a compassionate eye. The results are superb.

Read Alaris' review of Hot Fuzz (2007).