Movie Review: Police, Adjective

Movie Review: Police, Adjective Alternate Title: Boring, Adjective Story: A movie is supposed to move. This film was very much like watching grass grow. Yes, we all know that much of real life police work is drudgery, procedural paperwork and long hours. However, that reality doth not make for good cinema. This exercise in viewer patience was produced, written and directed by one of Romania’s most famous New Wave personalities, Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East of Bucharest). For much of the film we get to watch policeman Cristi tail his suspect – a high school kid who is suspected of dealing hashish. Problem is, after eight days, Cristi cannot find evidence, other than a few cigarette butts of widespread malfeasance and he does not want to send a high school kid to prison for seven years for a crime that Cristi is sure will be legalized soon – in line with how the rest of Europe treats recreational drug use. Long stretches of the film involve no dialogue. Instead, we watch Cristi watch the kid, watch the kid’s house, watch the kid’s friends and watch the kid’s family cars. There is an occasional foray into discussions of grammar with his wife and a long scene towards the finale that involves a dictionary. It was at this point that I said I should leave the theater but it was so cold outside I decided to stay and watch the rest of the film. I know this is supposed to be an intellectual exercise but I am giving it an F. Acting: Dragos Bucur as Cristi, Vlad Ivanov as Anghelache, Irina Saulescu as Anca), Ion Stoica as Nelu, Marian Ghenea as the Prosecutor and Cosmin Selesi as Costi somehow all managed to keep a straight face during the filming of this movie. Trivia: Director Corneliu Porumboiu won the Jury Prize at Cannes for this film. Romania entered this film as it’s one official entry into this year’s Academy Award race. Predilection: None Critters: Street dogs Food: Chicken noodle soup, bread and goulash. Sex Spectrum: If only… Soundtrack: I cannot remember anything about a soundtrack. I might have gone into an altered state at some point while watching this film. Visual Art: This town somewhere in Romania is very gray, bland and very definitely still has the flavor of the eastern Bloc of Communist Romania. Theater Audience: Three other somewhat conscious people. Weather: Gray, cold and misty. Sappy Factor: 0 Quirky Meter: 0 Squirm Scale: 0 Drift Factor: Drifting does not adequately described my mental state. Predictability Level: I could not care less what happened. Tissue Usage: 0 Oscar Worthy: No Big Screen or Rental: Neither Length: Thankfully under two hours but felt longer. LOBO HOWLS: 3