Cop Secret

Over-the-top ridiculous. A parody of Hollywood buddy cop movies by way of Iceland.

The concept is so simple and obvious, it beggars belief that it took this long to get onto our screens, least of all, for an Icelandic film to get there first. Beginning with a sweeping tracking shot over water into the famously criminal city of... Reykjavik, everything from the title sequence to the grand(standing) musical score to a thrilling car chase opener scream Die Hard or Lethal Weapon or anything Jerry Bruckheimer has produced. Cheaply made and with a plot cribbed from Die Hard 3, director/writer/national goalkeeper Hannes Þór Halldórsson's fondness for 80s/90s buddy cop action thriller is palpable in the way he's able to meticulously and lovingly recreate clichés and genres troupes, from the exasperated police chief to the ridiculous English-speaking villain spouting intimidating nonsense to the ticking time-bomb countdown; but it's its elevation of the homoerotic subtext we normally see in these films into sur-text that's its strongest and cleverest USP. Looking like Iceland's answer to Jason Statham and Chris Hemsworth dressed as John McClane and James Crockett respectively, first we have Auðunn Blöndal's maverick supercop Bussi who's professionally successful but a disaster in his personal life as he secretly struggles with his sexuality, so when he meets Egill Einarsson's hunky pansexual Hörður, the ex-model-turned-cop, which of course he initially has a disdain for, the film takes a leaf out of the rom-com handbook and sees it through to its logical conclusion. Despite the actors' comedic backgrounds, the film plays this out straight and the only thing the film makes fun of are genre conventions and to that extent, it has an incredibly fun time sending it all up. As a pastiche, it's a well calibrated and executed action comedy that winks hard at their fans, while as part of modern queer cinema, it's practically Iceland's magnum opus.

Absolutely amazing. For what it is attempting to achieve, it does so phenomenally. Overall a funny, insane, and ambitious Queer cop story that feels fresh and new. Genuinely a fun watch, and although I had to watch it with subtitles, it is still fully enjoyable and accessible to an international audience. Is it goofy and somewhat goofy: yes. But it also has a lot of heart and for those who enjoy the intersection of action, cop dramas, and queer love, this is the perfect movie for you!

i enjoyed this movie a lot. a lot of fun, and very entertaining. the action scenes kept me on my feet. recommended!

If you think root canal work is funny, you will love this.