Officer Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) of London’s Metropolitan
police force (actually, it’s now referred to as the police service, because
"force" is now considered to be too strong a word) is an exemplary cop.
Graduating at the top of his class, he’s become one of the elite police officers
in London, with an astounding 400 percent arrest record. But when he finally
makes sergeant, Angel is stunned to learn that the police service brass is
sending him to Sanford, a sleepy little rural town out in the sticks. It’s the
only sergeant position open--and besides, Angel’s excellent record is making all
the other cops in his division look bad, and they’re very happy to see him go.
Angel settles into his new quiet life as best he can, saddled with a partner,
Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), who’s in love with the Hollywood action-movie
glamour version of police work, with countless car chases and gun fights--yet the boys have to settle
with the worse crime cases that Sanford hands them, such as a swan running amuck
and a street performance artist who paints himself gold and stands around as a
statue. But before Angel can get too bored, several of the townspeople start
dying in grisly "accidents" that look very suspicious to him. Everybody
dismisses Angel’s misgivings as being wishful thinking from a big-city paranoid
cop. But it’s not long before the bodies start to pile up, and Angel does some
digging on his own.
Whenever I review a film, I have a spiral-bound notebook with me, along with a
pen. This is for taking notes while watching the film, and I usually wind up
with a rough first draft of the review right there. But while watching Hot Fuzz,
I was laughing so hard at times--especially in the last half hour--that I
completely forgot the notebook and just enjoyed the deliriously funny humor.
Directed by Edger Wright, who also gave us Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz is a
hysterically funny take-off on the big-budget popcorn cop films like Bad Boys,
Point Break, and Die Hard. As in Shaun Of The Dead, the humor comes fast and
furious, yet everything--including the main threat--is played straight. The
humor is not as off the wall as in the Airplane films; it’s actually more dry
and sophisticated, which makes Hot Fuzz an even more funny movie.
Because, despite the nuttiness, you still get caught up in the story, with a
plot as complex as some of these British murder mysteries--only without the
stuffiness. Simon Pegg is perfect in a straight-laced way as Angel, the super
cop who’s stifled by the more genteel way of life in the country. Nick Frost
makes for a perfect second banana; he’s a jolly sort of fellow who just wants to
see some "real action". Jim Broadbent is great as Frost’s father, the Sanford
police chief. And Timothy Dalton looks like he’s having a ball as the sly devil
who owns the local supermarket. The movie is surprisingly gory in some spots, and
not advised for children thanks to these scenes and plenty of cursing. Hot Fuzz
is so much fun, it's off the chain.
--SF
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