By Dennis D. McDonald

This demonically funny comedy follows a super competent London cop banished to a small English town because he’s so good he’s showing up the rest of his colleagues. What follows is a satirical look at just about every buddy cop movie ever made with huge dollops of gunfire and screwball comedy thrown in for good measure.

For the most part it works and it works extremely well. Writing and timing are perfect. There is a ton of crazy characters drawn from those second run rural English comedies you see at late night on local PBS stations. But there’s also a twist. Something awful is afoot in this small sleepy town. Our Hero is the only one who sees it — or is willing to do something about it.

I laughed out loud many times. Also be sure to check out the extras. It looks like they had a lot of fun making this film. Also, believe it or not, Peter Jackson plays Santa Claus.