Police Beat

Really one of the most beautiful low-budget films I've ever seen.

The lead actor is very compelling, and the idea of observing American life through an authority figure who is also an immigrant is really striking. And occasionally very funny.

The film as a whole has elements of David Lynch, as well as Linklater's "Slacker." But the sensibility is really not well described through reference to other films. It's really a one-of-a-kind piece of work.

The news in the final credits that all the incidents portrayed in the film were taken from actual police files was strangely disappointing, but when I later learned that the co-writer was the author of a "Police Beat" column in the Seattle alternative weekly, it made total sense.

Honestly, some of the images here are just absolutely singular. You've never seen anything quite like it.

Congratulations to all involved.

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.

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 disagree greatly with the previous review. Yes, there is no actual mystery plot, but the movie was not a mystery nor was it supposed to be. Now I don't know what the "original script" called for, and frankly it doesn't matter. What we have is the finished movie and should take it as it has been created. The underlying plot WAS the inner conflict over the relationship between the bike cop and his girlfriend and the crimes that he encounters take a back stage to this.

The movie is filmed very softly and captures the contrast between the harsh realities of the city and the beauty of the scenery. This mirrors the conflict within the character and how he operates within his surroundings. The lead character is beauty surrounded by contrasting darkness as his relationship which is a contrast between deep love and deep pain. I believe that the filmmakers tackled this complex character with compassion but without a false intensity which makes the film both believable and human. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes to delve into issues of humanity, however if you are looking for a great cops and robbers story, you WILL be disappointed. And frankly, I'm happy that this story grew beyond simple archetypes.