After retirement, some footballers eye up a job in coaching or management; others may go on to become pundits. Not Iceland’s former goalkeeper Hannes Þór Halldórsson, who turns film-maker with this goofy cop comedy. The movie is Reykjavík’s answer to Hot Fuzz: it’s an affectionate sendup of Hollywood action flicks, with a gay twist. It’s reasonably funny but, like a lot of genre spoofs, it begins to look increasingly like a low-rent version of the original movies it’s parodying. Though there are bound to be more laughs for audiences in Iceland where the actors are all big-name celebrities.
What Cop Secret does have going for it is a memorable lead, detective Bússi (comedian and TV personality Auðunn Blöndal). Bússi is Iceland’s most famous cop, a neanderthal knucklehead drunk who cruises Reykjavík in aviators and a leather jacket bashing bad guys. He’s dumped by his cardigan-wearing partner Klemenz (Sverrir Þór Sverrisson) after a high-speed car chase with Klemnz’s toddler strapped into the backseat (there’s a funny running gag here that sleepy Reykjavík is not exactly a crime capital). The reason for Bússi’s aggressively macho behaviour soon becomes apparent: he’s gay and terrified to come out.
After a handful of perplexing bank robberies in which nothing is stolen, Bússi is forced to partner with his workplace nemesis Hörđur (actor-DJ Egill Einarsson). Hörđur is everything Bússi isn’t: a ripped former male supermodel fluent in 15 languages. (Einarsson’s real-life Instagram handle, DJ Muscleboy, gives you an indication of how well cast he is for the role). Hörđur is also proudly bisexual, and their bromance turns to actual romance as the pair bring down evil genius Rikki Ferrari (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) – a poundshop Bond villain who insists on speaking in English with a creepy Donald Trumpish accent. Like the movie, he’s funny until the point he begins to grate.
• Cop Secret is released on 23 May on digital platforms.
