Hot Fuzz is Hot Stuff
The Shaun of the Dead Team Takes on Law Enforcement in New Comedy
From the wacky antics of “Monty Python” in the 1960’s and 70’s to the modern cubicle humor of “The Office,” British comedies have been one of America’s most profitable imports. Despite what people may think, many classic American sitcoms (“All in the Family” “Three’s Company”) actually originated across the pond.
That’s why there’s so much buzz surrounding “Hot Fuzz,” the latest effort from the team that created the cult horror spoof “Shaun of the Dead.” This time, however, director Edgar Wright and his writing partner Simon Pegg tackle the problems of law enforcement instead of killer zombies.
Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, a dedicated London police constable. Angel graduated at the top of his police academy class and is so good at his job that he makes all the other officers look bad. Rather than commend his exemplary record and superior performance, his superiors promote him and quietly ship him off to a little village where he can’t stir things up anymore.
From the first moment Angel arrives in town, however, he’s shocked at the lax, even careless attitude of the locals. A pub owner and his wife turn a blind eye to a dozen underage youths drinking pints of lager and even allow one bar patron to consume more alcohol than one person should drink in a week.
Angel tries to follow standard police protocols in this sleepy hamlet, but his commanding officer, Inspector Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent), is more concerned with lunch and making sure there are enough sweets around the precinct house. Butterman even lets his son Danny (Nick Frost) on the force despite the fact that he has no real experience other than multiple viewings of “Point Break” and “Bad Boys II.”
Just as Angel starts to lighten up a bit in his new surroundings, people begin dying in horrible ways. Angel believes they were murdered and his prime suspect is Simon Skinner (Timothy Dalton), a grocery store owner that’s trying to compete with the big chain stores, but Angel doesn’t have enough evidence on him yet.
Wright and Pegg are a great team and “Hot Fuzz” contains many moments of inspired brilliance, especially a climatic showdown with the villains that is equal parts hilarious and ultra-violent. At times though, it seems as if these two creative minds ran out of ideas and resorted to toilet humor to keep the story moving.
Still, “Hot Fuzz” is one wild ride and contains enough outrageous British humor to keep audiences laughing out loud.
“Hot Fuzz” is rated R for violent content, including some graphic images, and language.
