Wrong Cops

"This stinks of Germany!," hollers Duke (Mark Burnham), a pudgy, crooked cop, who is one of the many characters in Quentin Dupieux's latest film Wrong Cops. The context involves a shady figure named David Delores Frank (Marilyn Manson) giving Duke a taste of the new-age, Dubstep-esque kind of music the kids are listening to today. The scene is an accurate summation of everything Wrong Cops includes - quirky characters, inane little vignettes, random bits of humor, comedic laxness, and bumping house music housed inside a seventy-eight minute runtime.

This is Dupieux's third feature, his first being the widely-scene sleeper-hit Rubber, involving a killer tire, Wrong, a damning film about a man who wanders into the strangest of circumstances while trying to find his lost dog, and now Wrong Cops, the sorta-kinda followup to his last endeavor. The film continues the line of absurdist, surreal comedy, which is really hit and miss in the long run. However, Wrong Cops has probably more hits than any of Dupieux's previous features. Rubber was great fun for about fifty minutes - the problem was it was eighty minutes long - and Wrong felt like a screen writing exercise involving vapid characters and asinine circumstances clobbered together.

Wrong Cops, similar to Wrong in several ways, flies by the seat of its pants, possessing a vague plot that can be summarized in a sentence and includes numerous vignettes on its many characters. The plotlessness helps Dupieux communicate every cockamamie thing he wants to in a relatively short amount of time, so calling the film a burden on somebody's behalf is quite the overstatement. The story revolves around a band of bumbling cops who accidentally shoot an innocent person and must dispose of his body. Now that the plot is out of the way, the story largely focuses on the antics involving Duke, a hilariously vulgar officer who deals bags of marijuana in secrecy by handing the customer the product inside a dead rat to avoid drawing attention. Duke, however, is at kind of a loss, trying to retrieve money from a customer (Steve Little) who continues to buy more and more marijuana without having the money. Another noteworthy character is Renato (Eric Wareheim), a dopey cop who barely gets by when he's left to his own wit. The only cop who seems to have sense is Shirley (Arden Myrin), who works closely with Duke.

To begin with, the film feels like a series of fifteen minute long skits fit for the lineup of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, strung together in a halfway coherent seventy-eight minute film. The spontaneity and unpredictability of this project can be commended as a rather risky effort by Dupieux but the result feels somewhat incomplete and lacking seeing as there really is no continuity in the film whatsoever. Furthermore, the anti-humor schtick is still wonky, once again leaving me at a point of confusion, as I don't know what the humor is trying to be other than as weird as can be because, as far as I can tell, the entire movement doesn't seem to know what it wants to be.

Wrong Cops, however, is entertaining, albeit disjointed. Aside from the style of humor and situational weirdness that was clearly present in Wrong, the same goes for the easy-on-the-eyes, washed out cinematography, whose color-scheme consists of faded yellow, sky blue, and plain white to make for an always beautiful look. Quentin Dupieux is easily one of the damnedest new filmmakers, and I technically haven't really liked one of his films yet, but his style, efforts to blend contemporary surrealism with comedy, along with persistency into throwing characters and plots together for "no reason" begs to be explored, for it seems genuinely fresh and unique in an age where so much isn't.

Starring: Mark Burnham, Steve Little, Marilyn Manson, Éric Judor, Eric Wareheim, and Arden Myrin. Directed by: Quentin Dupieux.

8 out of 10 is quite a high rating, normally reserved for great films. This isn't a great film but it is a great comedy. It's great because it doesn't try to be funny or really even try to be a story. The concept and idea are strong and funny enough. So many good ideas are ruined because they try to be something and completely fail (anchorman 2, for instance). This is not a mainstream comedy by any shout, it's fresh, subtle and very smooth. Aesthetically and intellectually. This is very brave film making, it doesn't ponder to mainstream acclaim and for that it holds it's integrity. This film simply is what it is. If you like Eastbound and down or Green Wing then i advise you to give it a go, if your cup of tea is 'how i met your mother' then forget it. This isn't for you. I'd actually like to see this as a TV series.

This movie really wasn't for me, and I think that will be the case for most people. Those who do like this style may really enjoy it, but it's definitely not for your typical film fan. The movie has no real structure, plot, character development or anything, but at the same time it doesn't want to. It is totally absurdest. Nothing is believable, it has an odd feel the whole time and none of the characters are even remotely believable. Like I said before however, it doesn't want to. Its not that the movie tried to be a good movie and failed, it just didn't really try to be a movie at all. It's just a bunch of ridiculous things going on with ridiculous characters. For those who enjoy that type of thing, it may be very funny, but I didn't know what to expect when I started watching the film and it definitely wasn't what I was looking for. There was no story to really follow or get into, and since there's no real character development it isn't able to make any kind of humor based on the characters. I will say that a couple times I did laugh at just how ridiculous some of the dumb jokes were (not dumb as in bad, just purposefully random and absurd thing), but there just wasn't enough substance to the movie to leave me walking away thinking that I enjoyed the time I had just spent. I think this could have done better as a short film online or something so people could be more understanding and open to it, but since I found it on Netflix as a normal movie in the comedy section, I was expecting more. If you like adult swim and that type of totally random and absurd humor you will probably enjoy this movie. If you don't like that and are looking for a real movie with some meat to it whether comedy or not, you should probably skip over this one.

Quentin Dupieux's films are not for everyone, but if you're looking for a very fun, absurdist film you're going to love Wrong Cops.

I can't understand why other reviewers hate on this film so much. I watched it and laughed my ass off and had a great time. It's my favorite film of the past year. It's deadpan absurdity, a sequence of slightly the surreal encounters of a police force that does more harm than good, who spend their time selling drugs, refusing to investigate crimes, and composing house music. Dupieux's films collectively are like a breath of fresh air in a stodgy and self-important film culture.

The plot of Wrong Cops is loose and it almost feels like a piece written for the stage. It's all about the slightly twisted encounters - from scene to scene there is no way to predict where the film will take you, and once it takes you there there's no way to know exactly where you are. This kind of mischievous disorientation can be very fun if you just let go and take the ride.

If you like David Lynch, Alejandro Jodorowsky, etc. - films that go over the top with their surrealism and absurdity, films that never feel quite comfortable and familiar yet which you can't look away from, you will love this film. If you're looking for standard fare, just don't watch it. It will probably make you angry.

I like to avoid spoilers in my reviews. This movie is very short, but you'll remember every moment of it. The music is extremely obscure, but draws you in and makes the movie by the end.

It was great to see that the cast and crew didn't take themselves too seriously when making this film. Its not meant to be completely realistic, nor run for Academy Awards.

If you are offended by extreme sexual jokes, and people treating each other horrifically in bizarre social environments, then this movie is not for you.

The film starts off awkward, which sets the pace of the entire movie. The acting is not the most amazing, but its hilarious.

I've watched this movie at least 10 times since I got a copy of it. I've re-watched it with friends who share the same type of humor.

There is a gore scene that's quite disturbing, yet darkly hilarious. I mention that as a warning for people who couldn't stomach it, its quite psychotic. I won't ruin it for people who want to enjoy it.

This movie is best watched knowing almost nothing about it before you see it. Its best for when you don't have time for the usual 1hr45-2hr run time movies that are the norm these days. Wrong Cops is a movie you should also be in the mood for the first time you see it.

There's a lot of people who will hate this movie. Every joke is pure black humor. It seems to take influence from Reno 911 and Super Troopers. It is, however, much less slapstick.

This is the best review I can do without giving away anything, or spoiling anything. I rate it a 9/10 for the category of Black Humor Cult Classics. While its not old yet, people may still enjoy this 20 years from now.

The storyline is very unpredictable. A lot of the characters are unlikeable as people, but enjoyable to observe.

Although being unrealistic at various points, there are a lot of scenes that hit a little "too close to home" for people who have had a rough past. To enjoy this movie, separate yourself from the situations completely and thank heavens you don't live in the same neighborhood as these people.

Please remember that a protagonist doesn't have to be a good person. There are plenty of books and movies where the lead characters are straight up villains. The entire movie is quite amoral, which helps make this a unique little film. Its original, memorable, and not for everyone.

I hope this helps you decide if this is the movie for you tonight.