“Fuzz” is the brainchild of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, whose previous film was the spot on zombie-flick comedy “Shaun of the Dead.” Here they are satirizing the trappings of shoot-em-up action films, where lone wolf cops play by their own rules, and gunshots outpace dialogue in the script.
In “Fuzz,” Pegg plays against his “Shaun” type as Nicholas Angel, a workaholic, overachieving officer in the London P.D. In fact, Angel is such a good cop, that he earns a non-negotiable promotion to the countryside courtesy of his coworkers, who feel Nicholas is making them look bad. As such, Angel will now be patrolling the bucolic streets of Sandford, where quaintness is not merely an aesthetic quality, but rather represents an entire value system. Seemingly everything in the village, Nicholas is told, is done for the greater good.
At first, Angel is overcome with boredom at his new assignment- his most pressing cases involve underage drinkers at the local pub, and a rogue swan. In addition, he’s partnered with Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), the dim son of the local Inspector (Jim Broadbent). As time moves on though, a strange series of deaths begin to clue Angel in that all is not what it seems in Sandford- is a serial killer on the loose, and what could connect these seemingly random, accidental deaths?
The answers to these questions I’ll leave for you to discover. However I will say this: “Fuzz” succeeds, both as a comedy and a parody, largely in the details. Like in “Shaun”, Wright and Pegg have created a work that could be a serious film- they’ve only chosen to make it funny. While in “Shaun” they excelled at crafting legitimately frightening zombie effects and shocking moments, here they traffic in prototypical action film clichés of chases and gunfire.
It is merely that Angel is running down a shoplifting teenager and not a German terrorist that make this a comedy, and not “Die Hard.” To be fair, there are some elements of “Fuzz” that are more absurd than others- Timothy Dalton for one is hilarious as the overtly menacing grocery store owner. Also, the town itself is an exaggerated model of a folksy English hamlet.
However, contained in the parody are a few pointed observations about such communities. Specifically, there seems to be an odd duality to them; these are fiercely private people, yet everyone knows everyone else’s personal business. And, while the town seems outwardly friendly and charming, the villagers are quick to demonize any element that threatens the specific nature their “greater good” entails.
Ultimately, that is what differentiates good satire from bad satire; in order to parody something, you first have to start with a credible version of the thing you’re going to poke fun of. If you want to make a funny Bob Marley song, first you have to make it sound like Marley. And if you want to make a funny action film, make sure you understand what an action film is all about- “Hot Fuzz” certainly hits the target.
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