From the beginning I knew it was set out to be the parody of Hollywood style cop buddy films with all the cliches. A risky task, and it wasn't really as cringe as I feared it might be... but ultimately failed to entertain me either.
Set-out was OK - the characters were fun enough, production value was OK. Action scenes and special effect could have been bit more polished, but this is not a big budget Hollywood production, so my complaint isn't there.
Problem is it's not tight and effective enough. There are too many repeated unnecessary scenes - Rikki, the baddie, creepily killing and threatening his own men, for example. Thanks to Haraldsson's great portrayal, his creepiness was well established early on. Repeating the similar situation several times only made the impact less and eventually boring. Similarly, there are quite a few scenes and characters that could have been kept simpler and tighter.
All the while, the main point and the twist of the whole film, two cop partners having a romantic relationship is left underdeveloped and underexplored. After the initial clash and alcohol fueled sex, the focus is more on Bussi's inner struggle to come out rather than his relationship to his partner. What is a buddy movie without the bond between the two buddies?
Personally, the real virtue of the film was its hilarious commentary on boring, rule-abiding nature of Icelandic society. After all, this was my first Icelandic film, and I hope it's not to be the last.... Just do a bit better than this for the next, I hope.
