Familiar Yet Fun

Almost every film in the buddy cop genre operates at a nimble zone that makes it difficult to take it too seriously. But some films tend to be aware of this potential pitfall and lean into their tropes and come out entertaining.

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Gonzalo Fernandez Carmona's Dutch film Almost Cops on Netflix is a case in point. The film manages to be gleefully entertaining with an array of clever pop culture references, hilarious one-liners, and earnest performances. Unlike your regular buddy cop comedy, it does not start and end with the same two lead characters. It begins with Jandino Asporaat's Ramon experiencing a dream sequence where he serves as a security officer at a bank in Rotterdam. He talks a robber out of a heist plan while negotiating with the other, more aggressive thieves. Soon, Ramon comes back to his daily reality, his daily grind, where everybody else treats him as just another community service officer (CSO). Drug peddlers disrespect