Review of Police, Adjective (2010) by Joseph S — 03 Jan 2010

"Police, Adjective" starts with Cristi(Dragos Bucur) following Alex(Alexandru Sabadac), a high school student. Relax, it's not what you think. Well, at least, if it was what you thought, then there might have been something to recommend in this dull lingering headache of a movie.

In short, Cristi is a police detective investigating Alex for selling drugs after a fellow student squealed on him for smoking hashish. Except, Cristi does not feel right about sending the kid up the river for seven years.

See, Cristi is newly married and on his honeymoon in Prague spotted people openly using drugs there which he feels will be legal in his native Romania soon enough and cannot do any more harm than drinking, smoking cigarettes or figuring out the lyrics of pop songs.

So, without coming close to conveying the absurdity of the situation, the movie in its own listless way(Long takes and no accompanying humor. And there are only about five actors who can make reading from a dictionary exciting.

) is about the introduction of new ideas versus a hardened bureaucratic state.(Wait a second? Wasn't Kafka from Prague?) And like any good worker, Cristi does his best to avoid his boss. At least, the mystery of what foot tennis looks like is resolved in the end.