Hot Fuzz

[Sundae]

I went to see Hot Fuzz at the weekend. It’s the first time I’ve been to the cinema since my distressing visit to see Memoirs of a Geisha, but this was a far happier experience.

For those of you who haven’t heard about it, it’s the new film by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead). It is an affectionate homage to American cop/ buddy action films set in the rural village of Sandford – a solidly middle class crime-free zone.

I won’t review the film, as there are plenty of reviews already on the internet. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed it and encourage anyone with the opportunity to go and see it at the cinema. It will work very well on DVD – I believe it will bear repeated watching for the quality of the acting if nothing else – but the action scenes really benefit from being watched on a large screen with surround sound.

I didn’t laugh at exactly the same time as the rest of the audience, but I was happy to sit quietly shaking in my seat with mirth. A comment about a beard, and the swear box gave me an extended case of the giggles, as did one of the gruesome deaths SPOILER (the journalist staggering about with part of the church where his head should be, spouting arterial blood seemed really funny for some reason).

Simon Pegg looked frankly edible throughout the film. I’m not really into hard bodied men, but the look suits him. And there were two Bill Baileys for the price of one, so that was a treat for me too – I went home and watched the first series of Black Books on the strength of it. But only because I couldn’t find my Shaun of the Dead DVD (which was quite distressing).

For me, it was one of those films that pick you up and carry you along to such an extent that you’re not really sure where you are when it finishes. I smiled all the way home.