NEW COPS Review

Release Date:  February 15, 2016 on NoBudge.com
MPAA Rating:  NR
Director:  Timothy Morton
Run Time:  52 minutes

Slumbertime dreamworlds, fictitious television shows and the mundanity of daily life bleed together in Timothy Morton’s New Cops (which also happens to be the title of the fictitious TV series in the film), a slow-simmering broth of absurdity nestled in a half-conscious reality of monotony.

The film’s protagonist, Tim (played by Morton), is at once an aimless man of an unobtrusive demeanor drifting about his days and The President of the United States of America…or at least he is in his intermittent dreams. Although, there’s no discrepancies between the two versions of the man, except the faux-presidential iteration might be a tad bit more assertive, but both are dealing with the ever-increasing absence of their girlfriend.

No matter the consciousness location, Tim’s prevailing girlfriend situation looms large occupying most of his thought capacities. Certainly, a number of side projects present themselves as distractions such as watching his favorite fictitious series, New Cops; scoping for and selling garbage with his friend/house-guest, Chet (Jimmy Kustes); or, a short stint interning for a bizarre nap-app startup. Yet, his mind always settles back into the rut of figuring out his relationship status.

In what Morton himself describes as a “labor of laziness”, New Cops definitely has the look and feel of a half-hearted project come to that’ll-do fruition. However, the film does retain a certain amount of charm given the production model, a series of tangent strains weaved together haphazardly soaking in low-key humor. Never taking itself seriously, Morton’s film also benefits from a short run-time (clocking in at 52 minutes), staying ahead of the curve and exiting before the routine grows tiresome.

There is potential present in all three storylines (the TV show, reality, and the dreamworld), unfortunately Morton and co-writer Kustes only seem to manage tapping into it on occasion, seemingly intent on pursuing their ideas lackadaisically with plenty of space in between the humorous beats that are struck throughout the duration. I’m genuinely intrigued by the fake show, New Cops; it seems ridiculous and nonsensical in the all the right ways, but its appearance is minimal…same goes for the interactions between Tim and Chet.

New Cops has the feel of an overload of ideas forced together resulting in an uneven mess like a cluster of tangents and throwaways mushed into a semi-recognizable mass. If only a little more effort was exhibited because Morton and Kustes do have a feel for absurdity.