Don’t keep this film: Cop Secret
Icelandic action humour sees a cop battle with his sexuality, as well as taking on the bad guys
“Super-cop” Bússi (Aubunn Blōndal) blasts onto the screen with music blaring, cars chasing and swear words flying, in this new Icelandic action comedy.
It emerges that all this machismo hides Bússi’s denial about his sexuality, as he gets closer to his new partner Hôrdur (Egill Einarsson) while investigating a string of bank robberies where nothing seems to have been stolen.
The idea of the film is in the director’s own words “to make an action-comedy that is not afraid of mimicking Hollywood action clichés, a film that has never been done before in Iceland.”
There are gunfights, one-liner phrases and exaggerated fights. It has all of the swagger of a Hollywood production, while having its tongue firmly in its cheek. Don’t expect a realistic LGBT love story or a gritty portrayal of police work. Expect a bit of fun.
This film isn’t a laugh a minute, but it certainly does play with cliché and will consistently amuse in a rather surreal way, especially if you are used to action film tropes.
In an interesting aside the director, Hannes Halldórsson, is a professional goalkeeper. He always considered filmmaking to be his main profession, but had to put it on the back-burner when his strong performances earned him a move to play for a Norwegian club.
Halldórsson is one of Iceland’s most capped international players, having represented his country 77 times and famously saved a penalty against Lionel Messi in the FIFA 2018 World Cup. However, this film proves his talents are diverse and he has a healthy sense of humour.
Don’t expect this film to rock your world, but you will probably enjoy it if action movies sometimes unintentionally make you laugh and you like good sound tracks.
The UK premiere took place at the BFI on 6th of October.
