Police Beat

Police beat falls into the category of somewhat guilty pleasure for me, though certainly in a different way than most films typically relegated to that category.

It's a pleasure because being a Seattleite it's refreshing to see some of the cities lesser known but quite beautiful locations (gasworks park, for instance) shot beautifully on film for the first time. In addition I have to say that while an argument could be made that the African language narration was pretentious I found it fascinating, if for no other reason than that I always thought the idea of shooting an English language film with an abundance of subtitles would be an amusing experiment. There are also some rather funny scenes scattered throughout the movie, some of which work beautifully and others of which fail.

However it's a guilty one because plot wise it's thoroughly aimless and more than a bit pointless, acting wise it's very inconsistent, and overall it's a weak film. I have to admit a bit of a bias since I'm a volunteer at the place that produced and financed the film (nw film forum) and everyone around here worked on it in some way. The other reviewer's comment that just about everyone in the Seattle film scene worked on this movie isn't an exaggeration. In any case if you get a chance to see it I'd recommend you take it, if for no other reason than to see some beautiful Seattle scenery, a couple hilarious scenes, and more than anything a film experience I can guarantee you won't have had before.

Hey, LuckyStar, I just watched this movie and saw the name of the actor who played the "Bush Assassin." His name is Jim Newman.

As a Seattlite, I really liked seeing all the familiar settings, like the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Gasworks Park, Smith Tower, and others.

The lack of plot and dramatic tension limited my ability to enjoy this, but I found the main character to be interesting, complex, surprising, and occasionally very funny. Also, some of those bizarre crime episodes were pretty entertaining, as some of you have already said.

I can't recommend this to film-goers who require a compelling plot, but if you like an original character study, give it a shot.

One of the best characters in the whole film was not listed on IMDb. The Bush Assassian was incredibly funny and helped the film get a twist of humor in this dramatic plot. You have the purse snatcher listed whose face was never even seen and Rachel's neighbor...why? What about the rest of the cast that actually had interesting scenes and dialog? I would like to know who the rest of the cast is and where I can find them in the future. There was also a little problem with the sound on the girlfriends messages... did anyone understand what she was saying? Don't get me wrong I think this was a good film but it certainly could have used a little sound work. But I would once again like to state that in the cast listings that ALL cast should be listed not just 8.

I have serious doubts as to if the first reviewer has actually seen this film, or if he is just a disgruntled extra. As I am writing this, the film has only been showed twice.

The film is absolutely hilarious, especially with the some of satire of Seattle opinion. The Bike Cop once types in his computer how he "confronted the tree" then backspace's, and enters "rude tree". I almost fell out of my seat with this scene.

Everything about this film is original. The plot, the cast, the protagonist (Muslim-African Bike Cop?), cinematography, etc. It's truly refreshing to see such an inventive type film come from Seattle.

The entire crowd at the first showing of this film at Seattle International Film Festival loved the film, and I have to assume, the first reviewer has some sort of a "beef" with the director.

I've always had a soft spot for offbeat film-makers, especially when their work shows a lot of eccentricity. Director Robinson Devor already manages to establish himself as such a film-maker with his debut film POLICE BEAT. It's a perfect example of how a good film often isn't exactly for the general crowd.

Expect a sort of docu-style work of fiction when entering POLICE BEAT. The plot forms an anecdotal whole where the bigger part of the screenplay is based on authentic police reports. The pivot character in all this, is protagonist Z. He's the red chord that connects all the unrelated events. Freshly imported from the dusty regions of Senegal, he already gets lucky when taking up on the opportunity to become a Seattle police officer. The only little catch is: Instead of getting a real patrol vehicle, his employers hook him up with… a bicycle.

Z spends his time patrolling on his bike through town, checking out various complaints by citizens and misdemeanors in general, and the audience gets the chance to witness him do his job over the course of one week. Soon Z finds himself getting mixed up in numerous events that simply taunt all imagination. All possible criminal subject matters are featured in POLICE BEAT (theft, prostitution, drug delicts, murder, racism,… you just name it). All characters he encounters, range from "slightly odd" to "completely insane". It sometimes gives POLICE BEAT a hilarious touch. It provides perfect counterweight to the movie's true nature: a profound portrait of a young man coming to terms with his strange new environment. His constant wandering thoughts about his lost girlfriend (is she ever coming back?) provide the other half of the movie's perfectly split personality. And strangely, it all works quite well.

POLICE BEAT also has a lot more cinematographic qualities than what you'd usually expect from this type of movies. There's no shaky camera or quickly spinning pov-shots when the spectator follows Z around on his bicycle patrols. Graphically, and regarding contents, a lot of images are so strong that they often speak for themselves. The opening-shot (the dead body of a man floating in the water) is already a nice example. And there's plenty more to discover during the movie. Some of them might even make you think and wonder about things. That's what I call a strong visual language, and also kudos to director of photography Sean Kirby for accomplishing great shots with limited resources (after all, this is an independent film). The photography and registrations are almost as cool as Z's philosophical reflections. Part of the movie features a lot of voice-over work, were we can here Z doing some monologues in Wolof (a native dialect from Senegal). They're often quite humorous (in a dry manner), and one of my favorites was hearing Z's amusing theories on 'problems'. And by the time that scene ended, he also managed to get rid of his own, personal problem (which had been haunting him throughout the whole movie) in an incredibly simple but highly efficient fashion. And there's more moments like this that might cause some chuckles. That one dude on his bicycle, for example, who openly admits he would kill the president if someone would give him the opportunity. So funny seeing Z straighten out that situation again with his sober ways. And then there was this naked woman running through the park, with Z chasing her on his bike... Just see this movie, you won't regret it.

With POLICE BEAT, Robinson Devor delivers an out of the ordinary, well-balanced picture. As much as it's rather serious, it can also get pretty absurd. With no real beginning and no real ending. If this debut film is a good taste of Devor's things to come, then I'm very much ready for a bigger piece of that cake. So I'm looking forward seeing Devor's second film, the controversial ZOO.