Almost Cops Movie Review: Familiar yet riotous fun

Almost every film in the buddy cop genre operates at a nimble zone that makes it difficult to take it too seriously, but some films tend to be aware of this potential pitfall and lean into their tropes and come out entertaining. Gonzalo Fernandez Carmona’s Dutch film Almost Cops on Netflix is a case in point. The film manages to be gleefully entertaining with an array of clever pop culture references, hilarious one-liners, and earnest performances. Unlike your regular buddy cop comedy, it does not start and end with the same two lead characters. It begins with Jandino Asporaat’s Ramon experiencing a dream sequence where he serves as a security officer at a bank in Rotterdam who talks a robber out of a heist plan while negotiating with the other, more aggressive thieves. Soon, Ramon comes back to his daily reality, his daily grind, where everybody else treats him as just another community service officer (CSO). Drug peddlers disrespect him, as do cops for failing to stop crime in the city. Ramon is also different from other protagonists in the genre for the trauma he carries following his father’s murder in Rotterdam. As if this is not enough, he also faces the loss of his half-brother Kevin (Yannick Jozefzoon). Consequently, the special investigation department CID’s boss (Romana Vrede) forces Kevin’s partner, Jack (Werner Kolf), to stay undercover and work with Ramon as a CSO. The film explores how the selfless Ramon and the reckless Jack set aside their differences and solve the crime.

Director: Gonzalo Fernandez Carmona

Cast: Jandino Asporaat, Werner Kolf, Yannick Jozefzoon

Streamer: Netflix

There are no major surprises in Almost Cops; the film is as predictable as it can get in terms of the crime thriller aspect. However, it commits itself fully to mindless, often rollicking fun. There is a hilarious reference to how Matt Damon “needs escaping” in many of his films, including The Martian and Elysium. The joke practically writes itself: Damon in Distress. A stretch involving Ramon and his penchant for sandwiches is particularly funny for how it comes soon after he fails at his job. And a chase involving go-karts is silly yet exciting at the same time. The film maintains a high level of energy throughout. And at a deeper level, it has poignant themes, such as Ramon’s steadfast commitment to community service and aspirations to become a law enforcement officer, as well as Jack’s realisation about where the true essence of service lies. The film also pokes fun at corruption in Dutch society. Everyone from CSOs and CID officers to industrialists faces constant sarcasm from people who exist below and above them in society just for being who they are. While the film does not really explore these nuances deeply enough, they are interesting to look at and add some flavour to what otherwise would have been a straightforward comedy caper. The film also serves as an example of the laid-back nature of the Dutch, often interestingly and sometimes disappointingly. For example, it repeats the same joke involving a character exposing himself in front of a woman and her boyfriend. The woman only expresses mild surprise at the man’s act, whereas her boyfriend does not even bat an eyelid.

Almost Cops admirably resists a tendency to fall prey to buddy cop genre trappings for a large part of its runtime. It is only towards the end that we even get to see the two leads address each other as ‘bros’. The film manages to make us care about the characters and still keeps us entertained by leveraging the strengths of the genre. That is a job well done—well, almost.