ODD COUPLE
Bon Cop and Bad Cop reunite in sequel
Bon Cop Bad Cop 2 Opens Friday
A decade later, Patrick Huard and Colm Feore may or may not be wiser, but they are naturally older looking in the bilingual comedydrama Bon Cop Bad Cop 2.
The first film set a Canadian box office record for a Quebec-made production at more than $12.7 million by exploiting the rift between a straitlaced anglophone investigator and a rebellious francophone detective.
This time around, Feore’s Martin Ward is attached to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while Huard’s David Bouchard still bends rules as an undercover agent for the Sûreté du Québec. They meet again when Ward’s RCMP unit busts a car-theft ring that Bouchard has infiltrated. Together, the odd-couple cops decide to join forces. Their goal is to expose what might be a burgeoning terrorist plot linked to the stolen vehicles.
Huard, who also wrote the screenplay, and Feore, offer their considered opinions:
On the second time around: “There is more humour and more real emotion and not just the perception of two different solitudes,” Huard says.
“And this time we tell a story about friendship. I also tried to write something that was more intricate in terms of cultural humour, and push the envelope everywhere.”
On being invited back to the bilingual cinema party: “Gratitude would be the first thing I thought of,” says Feore. “Patrick wrote a really good part for me.”
On reprising the chemistry: “Of course, when you know your partner so well, you can throw curve balls and you know he will throw them back at you,” Huard says.
“I know Patrick is specific, and he takes such great time to prepare the script, and he was constantly refining it,” Feore says.
On a less combative tone between the cops: Huard says the alteration reflects a changing dynamic in Canada.
“It’s not political, it’s sociological and a different way of looking at things. As Colm says, ‘It’s like two decks of cards and you shuffle together.’ ”
On bonding on and off camera: “The truth is we have a lot in common,” Feore says. “We’ve had highs and lows in our careers. We have beautiful, smart and powerful daughters and we have smart and artistically engaged wives ...”
On taking satirical aim at Americans in the sequel: “So many times I’ve watched American shows making fun of Canadians,” Huard says. “I said, ‘I’m going to turn the tables.’ ”
Adds Feore: “We are fundamentally different, so this exaggeration of our neighbours to the south is revenge for years of Americans not knowing what they are talking about when it comes to Canadians.”
On a sequence that enters the loony zone: At one point, Huard’s Bouchard is being held at a smalltown Maine police station because they don’t believe he’s an officer.
That has some of the local cops speculating about his nationality. One of them decides Huard’s character might be Swedish because he speaks fractured English just like the Swedish Chef on The Muppet Show.
Absurd? Maybe not. During meetings in the U.S., Huard says he’s been mistaken for a Swede, a Belgian and even an Australian.
“I had so much fun writing it,” he says of the scene. “I was laughing to myself when I wrote it. A lot of people told me I was pushing too much, but I like it.”
On the sequel being lost in box office translation: Huard’s been told the film will have a tough time attracting customers in the U.S. because American moviegoers don’t enjoy movies with sub-titles while the French might be put off “because it’s pretty harsh French.”
“But I didn’t do it to conquer the world,” Huard says. “I did it for the Canadians and the Québécois. It was always my goal and my purpose.”
Was he ever tempted to compromise? No way.
“I said, ‘That’s it, that’s all.’”