Director: Quentin Dupieux
MPAA Rating: NR
Film Pulse Score: 5.5/10
Quentin Dupieux’s Wrong Cops, such is the case with his last two films, Rubber and Wrong, is an absurdist journey of nothingness where little makes sense, and the threadbare plot plays out like a series of darkly comedic sketches. One can easily attempt to criticize this method as being entirely too random and aimless, with no structure or purpose, but that’s clearly the intent. Like the comedy of Tim and Eric (Eric Wareheim is featured in this film) it’s a polarizing type of comedy that will work for some, but not most.
While Rubber and Wrong had at least a kernel of a plot, Wrong Cops throws that idea along the curb and presents series of loosely connected vignettes involving some of the most corrupt police officers you will ever see on screen. Imagine the cast of Reno 911! except they deal drugs, hide bodies, pose in gay porn mags, and force women to disrobe at gunpoint.
Some of the stories within the film are downright hilarious. One storyline involves one of the officers, played by Mark Burnham, tying up some dude, played by Marilyn Manson, and making him listen to music while he dances in his underwear.
Everything is completely disjointed and the film hops from story to story with no real direction. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, but it felt like there were several missed opportunities to capitalize on the great ensemble cast involved with the film. Jonathan Lajoie (Taco from The League) is one of the cops, but has nearly nothing to do. The same goes for Steve Little, who plays a larger role, but the script doesn’t really showcase his comedic talent. That isn’t to say he isn’t funny, but we can always use more Steve Little.
The biggest problem with Wrong Cops is the inconsistency of everything held within. The through line of the gun shot victim being carted around town all day is funny, but Dupieux never follows through with it. Everything that Mark Burnham’s character is involved with is funny, but then it’ll switch to Eric Judor’s character, a deformed cop attempting to be a musician, whose story isn’t nearly as interesting or funny.
Quentin Dupieux once again provides the musical score for the film as his alter ego Mr. Oizo, which is made up of thumping electronic tracks that are catchy and often take center stage. Sometimes the music tends to overshadow the film itself however, and comes on fairly strong during certain scenes.
Wrong Cops is certainly worth a few laughs, and watching Eric Wareheim eat an egg salad sandwich might be worth the price of admission alone, but it’s a film that feels like an incomplete product. It’s all over the map tonally, and it ends as abruptly as it begins, leaving you in a constant state of confusion about what you just saw. This very well may be the intention of the filmmaker; it’s just unfortunate the level of comedy wasn’t as consistent as the level of absurdity.
