“BON COP, BAD COP” — Canadian thriller that should’ve gotten a U.S. release! =

Rating 7.5 of 10 stars. [+ details re next Wednesday’s FREE movie ]

This film was released in 2007, was Canada’s biggest-grossing Canadian movie ever & won its Genie award— yet it seemingly did NOT receive a regular distribution in the U.S. It was shown at the Summer Movie series by the Chicago Int’l Film Festival at the Cultural Center on 7-1-09, to another full house.

As pointed out by Columbia University’s Ron Falzone in a Q&A after the screening, this is like ‘LETHAL WEAPON’ but with expectations purposely “flipped” by the CULTURAL differences between the sort of rash French Canadian detective & the comparatively by-the-book “English”-Canadian detective forced to work together to solve the murder of a Hockey executive…

… The cops are very reluctant co-workers & “buddies”, they often (as the Canadian Consul General commented) operate in very “stereotypical” cultural ways, but they’re also very hard-working, diligent, smart & FUNNY in their often-conflicting methodologies & attitudes. There’s lots of action, unexpected twists and clever turns as they run around trying to track down WHO is targeting hockey-related people and why, & how they work to support & save their various family members as the targeting widens. It’s a very enjoyable film, which was quite appreciated by the audience (most of which stayed for the fascinating talk afterwards wherein American & Canadian spectators offered their impressions and thoughts about the film & the cultures involved)…

[ … Next Wednesday, the FREE movie is a French film “PALOMA DELIGHT” described as a “gritty tale of swindle and survival” that’s “scandalous, funny & heartbreaking”. The CIFF rep person urged people to arrive EARLY for the 6:30 PM screening due to the consistently high attendance recently…]