The movie centers on Nicholas, a British constable (equivalent to an American police officer). Maybe 30 years old, he is so obsessed with job excellence that his jealous superiors transfer him to the sleepiest English village they can find to get him out of London where he's making them all look bad.

The poor guy has no one special in his life except for his large houseplant: a Japanese peace lily. The scenes of Nicholas traveling to his new home are priceless: alone on the train, he sits with perfect posture, clutching his plant on his lap, a grim expression upon his face.

When he arrives in the village late that night, Nicholas gets settled in a hotel. He then heads out to the pub for a cranberry juice and to get the lay of the land. He ends up arresting half the teenagers in the village for underage drinking as well as a big chubby man who attempts to drive while falling-down drunk. Nicholas marches his group of offenders down the street to the police station – after asking one of the kids where it is.

The kids get booked and released, but the man gets thrown in the drunk tank. Nicholas returns the next morning only to find the drunk released and wearing a constable's uniform. Stunned, Nicholas asks, "Why are you dressed as a cop?" He can't process the fact that this is Danny, his new partner.

Sweet-natured Danny, son of the indulgent police chief, is thrilled to get a partner from big, bad London. Danny loves American buddy-cop movies like Bad Boys and Point Break. Though Nicholas is intimidating with his spit-and-polish extremism, Danny hopes that perhaps together they can experience their own real-life version of an American buddy-cop movie. (He will get his wish in every way.)

How can Nicholas remain disapproving in the face of such friendliness? Of course, he must thaw out a little. The two of them attend an appalling theater production of Romeo and Juliet. (The chief gives them tickets, ordering them to sit in the audience as part of community public relations.)

Then Nicholas reluctantly joins Danny at the pub for several pints of lager. Completely drunk, they toddle off to Danny's house to sit on the couch and watch back-to-back DVDs from Danny's collection of American cop movies.

But a conspiracy is brewing even though Nicholas is the only one who sees it at first. When it unfolds, it centers on the quintessentially British preoccupation with attaining the perfect village. As Nicholas uncovers the implausible details, he reacts, in perfect character, with shock and horror.

Here might be a good place to mention the movie's awesome soundtrack: every song of the eclectic total perfectly enhances the action. When was the last time you heard English singer Arthur Brown's weird 1968 hit "Fire"? The song that recurs the most is, amusingly, the Kinks' melody "The Village Green Preservation Society." I almost spit out my coffee when I recognized it: a better song for the context of this movie could not have been chosen!

The humor works because it's so deadpan. There is the subtle parody of the unconscious homoeroticism found in American buddy-cop movies. Nicholas and Danny are so stolidly unaware of any gay overtones in their behavior that it makes it that much funnier when Nicholas buys Danny a Japanese peace lily for his birthday.

Or take the village fair scene when Nicholas gets in touch with his inner-marksman. He shoots targets with an air-rifle, and then gives his prize – a big, stuffed animal – to Danny. Later, they argue, and Danny gives it back, stating, "It's your prize." Puzzled and slightly exasperated, Nicholas says, "But I won it for you."

Then there are the over-the-top sequences including a massive supermarket shoot-out, a car-chase involving an apprehended swan, and a Herculean fistfight within a quarter-scale model of the village, which makes our combatants look like giants struggling amidst the quaint little buildings.

Hot Fuzz is rated R because of profanity (the police station has a "swear box" into which offenders have to pay a fine) and several gruesome deaths that are exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness. Hot Fuzz delivers big laughs, and who doesn't want that? It's definitely worth getting for your DVD collection so I've included a helpful Amazon link below:

Hot Fuzz (Widescreen Edition)