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So far this spring, Hot Fuzz is THE humorous film. If you are into dark humor, biting satire and a touch of the British Isles, scriptwriters Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg (“Shaun of the Dead”) are at it again. No zombies this time, but a story of what happens when an overly perfectionist police sergeant (is that possible?) collides with a nearly perfect English village. Aha, scratch beneath  surface of this village and what do you find? Murder and mayhem, most foul. Ouch, I’m sounding like “Miss Marple,” and even this Agatha Christie detective gets skewered in Hot Fuzz.

The story has Sgt. Angel (Simon Pegg) being sent from the London Police Service to the village of Sandford. Angel, you see (and newspapers misspell his name) is too good for London. He outshines everyone because he just doesn’t have a life other than police work. Sadly, Angel goes to the village where he finds the police service as inept as possible. However, to them, they do things by the book. There are members of the police service and village who speak a particular dialect no one can really understand. Everything sounds like “aargh.” Angel’s partner is the chief’s son, Danny (Nick Frost) and together they form an unlikely team. Soon, deaths occur, but the chief (Jim Broadbent) says they are accidents. Angel is suspicious and begins his own investigation since the detectives (Rafe Spall and Paddy Considine) are busy telling jokes. The biggest job so far is locating a missing swan. Timothy Dalton makes an appearance as a local entrepreneur, and Timothy has left his James Bond days far behind in this droll characterization. Eventually, everything hits the fan and there are chases (foot and car) and explosions. The writers haven’t left anything out, except, perhaps the kitchen sink. Ah, those calm English villages. 

The deaths are particularly inventive and it reminds me of Sir Alec Guinness in the 1949 “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” in which people are dispatched by various, unlikely means. The clever actors carry off their roles seriously which adds to the fun. Simon Pegg is wonderful as Sgt. Angel and his facial expressions are inventive . Angel’s partner, Nick Frost looking like Mark Addy, plays “let’s-have-fun” with relish. Dalton’s character oozes slickness like perspiration and Broadbent’s police chief seems like Dad to everyone. This ensemble acting group of the villagers and police service officers must have been a joy for director Edgar Wright to work with.

My favorite scenes were when Sgt. Angel discovers an arsenal of antiquated weapons collected by a farmer or the amateur acting grouping trying to do Shakespeare. Action and mayhem go together like ham on wry in this script. There are many secrets here and it takes you two hours to uncover them. Photography is good. Enjoy.

Copyright 2007 Marie Asner
Submitted 4/17/07