Product Details

• Actors: Colm Feore, Patrick Huard
• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Bfs Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: May 13, 2008
• Run Time: 117 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0015UKX4M
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,094 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

"...hilarious thriller..." – Montreal Mirror

WINNER / Best Motion Picture / Genie Awards

Shoot First, Translate Later

Martin Ward (Colm Feore - Paycheck) and David Bouchard (Patrick Huard – Stardom) could not be more different: one speaks English and is from Toronto; the other speaks French and is from Montreal. One obeys the law while the other makes his own. When a dead body is found draped over the border sign dividing Ontario and Quebec, they are forced to work together on the investigation and engage in a violent cat-and-mouse game with a deranged serial killer who is determined to keep the body count mounting.

approx. 117 mins. WIDESCREEN

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another fine example of Canadian humor...that you'll never see in the US, May 18, 2008

By 

Sarah - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bon Cop Bad Cop (DVD)

I first read about Bon Cop, Bad Cop while riding the train to Montreal. There was a bilingual featurette on the film in VIA Rail's magazine, and I was instantly intrigued. I'd seen Colm Feore at Stratford four years ago, and I was familiar with Patrick Huard from the Les Boys 1, 2 and 3 (Box Set) hockey film franchise. I studied at Laval University in Quebec City for two months, and specialized in Quebec Studies (history, literature, and cinema) as an undergraduate, so I was intrigued to see how the film would balance both the bilingual and bicultural aspects of living in Canada. The issue of Quebec is a contentious one for a number of political, social, and cultural reasons. Bon Cop, Bad Cop attempts to use humor in an attempt to defuse volatile issues between the Two Solitudes (English- and French-speaking Canada).

A series of brutal murders in the Canadian hockey community pairs together two very different cops: Torontonian Martin Ward, (Colm Feore) a by-the-book, prim-and-proper intellectual, and rough-and-tumble David Bouchard, a shoot first, ask later detective from Montreal. Naturally, the two despise each other at first sight, and the rapid-fire bilingual one-liners between Martin and David are fast and furious from the get-go. Some critics panned the film for a seemingly forced, unnatural balance of bilingual script, but as someone who's trilingual, I frequently switch languages when speaking to other bilingual friends; nothing unnatural there.

Much of the comedic humor comes from the culture clash between Martin and David, Ontario and Quebec; there are numerous in-jokes regarding Canadian law, stereotypes of Quebeckers (diehard smokers, dangerous drivers, womanizers) and Torontonians (cold, boring, workaholics) and nods to popular Canadian culture (Rick Mercer of This Hour Has 22 Minutes-Season 1 does a great Don Cherry impression, Uniprix commercial spoof, cameo by Nanette Workman). There are some hilarious scenes involving tortured translation between the Quebec police chief and his Ontarian counterpart as the two (fully bilingual) detectives watch in disbelief. The secondary characters really shine, from a speed-talking coroner (Quebecois comedian Louis-José Houde) to Martin's glamorous, hip sister who's hot for David, as does the bilingual script. The special effects are very well done considering that the film had an $8 million budget.

In the vein of earlier Canadian comedies like Strange Brew and Men With Brooms (a curling "comedy" from Paul Gross aka Constable Benton Frasier of Due South: Season One (4-DVD Digipack)), Bon Cop, Bad Cop is a sendup of that great Canadian pastime, hockey. Of course, beer, curling, beavers, and the fleur de lis make prerequisite appearances, as does marijuana (there is a priceless scene involving a self-destructing marijuana greenhouse that brought to mind the British comedy Saving Grace). Romantic interest? Check. (You'll never think of "Vive le Quebec libre!" quite the same way again...) Action? Car chases? Explosions? Check. The weakest part of the film is the villain, who is never really developed; we never know, or care, why he turned psychotic. There is also a gratuitous amount of violence and swearing (nearly all in French) that seemed over-the-top, but it's obvious from the start that this is a film that has no intentions of taking itself seriously.

Looking at these elements separately, Bon Cop, Bad Cop would appear to be another shallow attempt at creating a uniquely "Canadian" comedy. But there is an unexpected depth and tenderness in the character development between Martin, David and their respective families (both men are divorced single parents), and the bilingual dialogue really shines. Huard and Feore give standout performances, and I felt right at home in that strange limbo between Quebec and Ontario from my experiences in both English- and French-speaking Canada. This is a gem that deserves to be seen!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One film, two solitudes/Un filme, deux solitudes, May 3, 2007

By 

C. Klein "CBK, RPCV" (Richmond VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bon Cop Bad Cop (Original French / English Dialogue, With French, English Subtitles) (DVD)

The strength of "Bon Cop Bad Cop" is not in its plot, but in its treatment of relations between Canada's "two solitudes", its anglophone and francophone populations.

The film hangs its intercultural and political themes on a story line that has been filmed many times before: Two law enforcement officers with incompatible personalities are forced to work together on a tough case. They have a number of misadventures - some of which they cause for each other - but help each other out of trouble. Murders happen left and right, and there are police shootings and car crashes that result in no paperwork or lawsuits.

While all of these things are happening, the film is addressing issues of Canadian identity, especially the often sore subject of relations between Quebec and the rest of Canada.

The film makes its intercultural points using characters and situations that are usually playful, if somewhat stereotypical. The anglophone policeman (Colm Feore's character) from Ontario is firmly middle-class, uptight and rule-bound. The francophone officer (played by Patrick Huard) from Quebec is rough around the edges, unsophisticated, and overtly sexual. The entire nation of Canada is portrayed as being obsessed with hockey; a serial killer takes the obsession to the extreme of using skates and sticks to kill his victims.

These broad and simple images are raised from the first frames of the movie, but its deeper themes come out more gradually. Numerous scenes show the affronts and points of friction - small and large - between Canadians who speak French and those who speak English. Near the end of the film, it is revealed that what has been driving the crime spree at the center of the story is the threat that American business interests pose to the cultural identity of Canadians, regardless of their mother tongue or ethnicity.

The film is constructed of a mix of alternating sequences of comedy, action and drama (with one mild sex scene), a pattern very familiar to North American film-goers. Because the film is easily accessible and entertaining, it may be more effective than more serious means in introducing Canada's issues of language and culture to audiences with little prior knowledge of these subjects.

An interesting feature of the original version of the film is that its dialogue alternates constantly between English and French, so viewers can gain insight into what it is like to live, work and try to resolve problems in a multilingual atmosphere, even if one has not actually had these experiences. The subtitles are necessary unless one is perfectly bilingual.

The original version of the movie is also a useful teaching tool for those studying French as it is spoken in Quebec. The dialogue demonstrates how Francophone Canadians have incorporated numerous English words into their speech, yet have clearly retained French as their mother tongue and have forged a culture that is distinct from that of anglophone Canada.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a surpise-Canadian Cop Movie-actually really good!, September 8, 2008

By 

Some Guy (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bon Cop Bad Cop (DVD)

I started watching because there was nothing on, and wow, what a hit I stumbled upon. This movie is sharp with it's humor,fast-paced and just all around great.