Josef Fares
Kops

Sadness? Sorrows? Have they rescheduled your exam date? Or do you have a particularly nasty boss? At least for one evening, forget everything and enjoy an hour and a half of fun and laughter with this hilarious and tender film.

In a remote and sleepy village in Sweden, the crime rate is more than low - it's non-existent, and the local police squad seems to be set for a peaceful and boring routine. Calm, satisfied, relaxed, with no problems other than having to clear some unruly cows off the road, they form a most unlikely and eccentric group.

Jacob, a young man of Lebanese descent, with black mustache and a big nose, is afflicted by a slight tic: every time he gets in or out of the patrol car, he has to honk the horn, twice with his hand and once with his head! Apart from this little oddity, he's tender, funny, and generous, has a beautiful daughter, and is engaged in a constant and fruitless search for his soulmate. He's already amassed a series of "blind dates" with rather dismal outcomes, but he doesn't give up...

Benny pretends to be a "tough" and all-around cop; he dreams of being a "supercop," facing ruthless ninja enemies in epic duels like in The Matrix, adjusting his gun on his pants' fly and spewing fire... With pelvic thrusts! In real life, Benny is shy and clumsy, and he spends his free time knitting, playing poker with the village grannies, regularly losing, and getting fooled by the twelve-year-old neighbor, who teaches him how to be tough and how to properly pronounce "fuck you," gangster-style.

Then there are Lars and Agneta, a middle-aged couple; he's not particularly sharp but is a simple and calm man, and she's constantly worried about aging, which she believes manifests as "having saggy boobs." And don't forget Folke, the dapper commissioner who wouldn't look out of place in a Romagnan bocce club, and Hokan, the "sensitive" dispatcher who always has under his arm his companion dog, Pisellino.

The usual patrol rounds, a quick run for a sandwich, a hello to the shopkeeper, some small talk with passers-by, a hockey game in the afternoon, and the day slips away quietly and painlessly... The enchantment is broken when Jessica, a sweet blonde, arrives, whom Jacob clumsily tries to seduce, but who turns out to be a representative from the national police command, intending to close a basically useless police station.

Panicking, the police officers devise a "diabolical plan": they stage a series of small thefts, innocent attacks, and petty acts of vandalism to persuade Jessica of a sudden resurgence of crime in the village, hoping to keep the station open, along with their comfortable positions and sleepy routines. As expected, the events shock and mobilize the village, so unaccustomed to novelties, and the plan seems to work... Until our heroes overdo it, giving the impression that there is a danger so terrible and real, that it prompts the arrival of the "special forces" from the capital, intent on tearing the village apart until order is restored. And then they'll have to do their utmost to disentangle themselves from the mess they've got into, facing a series of flamboyant, improbable, and embarrassing blunders: a parade of "screw-ups" that spare neither the poor protagonists nor the unfortunate spectators, forced to roll on the couch from laughing and wipe away copious outflows of tears...

No Oscars, no place in the history of cinema for this gentle little film by director Josef Fares; but a heartfelt thank you, indeed, for entertaining us and helping us forget our daily troubles, at least for a little while.