Bon Cop Bad Cop 2 has a new language
Sequel to bilingual phenomenon is less about linguistic conflicts, more about friendship
It’s been more than 10 years since Bon Cop Bad Cop hit screens in Canada, and the multimillion-dollar question is whether moviegoers across the country in 2017 are going to be enthused about heading out to the multiplex to watch a sequel to the most famous bilingual movie ever made here.
The original, which opened in Quebec in August 2006, was a phenomenon at the time. With dialogue almost evenly split between the country’s two official languages, it struck a major chord with folks in la belle province and ended up being one of the top-grossing Canadian films, ringing up $12.7 million at the cash register.
It worked in large part because the people behind the film — principally actor/co-writer Patrick Huard, producer/co-writer Kevin Tierney and director Érik Canuel — managed to capture the unique bilingual zeitgeist of Montreal, generating mucho laughs by mining the turf war between anglos and francos. They did that by telling a story about a tough-talking rebellious francophone cop, David Bouchard (Huard), who is forced to work with a strait-laced anglo detective from Ontario, Martin Ward (Colm Feore).
We recognized ourselves in the film, and that’s why it took off. Most of that box-office action was in Quebec, but it did gross $1.2 million outside of the province, which is way more business than almost any Québécois film has done in the rest of Canada.
Distributor Les Films Séville is launching Bon Cop Bad Cop 2 on around 200 screens the same day from coast to coast, which is unprecedented for a Quebec film. The rollout happens Friday for the film, which is directed by Alain Desrochers.
It goes without saying that all of the folks involved in la suite believe there is a market for another action-comedy featuring Bouchard and Ward cracking wise and fighting bad guys.
“What is really touching is to see how people are actually waiting for this movie,” Huard said in a recent interview during the press junket in Montreal for Bon Cop Bad Cop 2.
He once again stars as Bouchard, and he wrote the screenplay.
“We were with 1,400 people (Sunday) to show them the movie, and I cannot believe that they’re still here 10 years later, so involved,” said Huard.
“There’s an advantage we have,” said Feore, “and that is my on-the-ground encounters with people across the country, in planes and trains and everywhere, from Vancouver to St. John’s. And (they always say things like) ‘Hey man, loved that film. The Bon Cop Bad Cop thing. And you know … tabarnak.’ And sometimes they don’t get the ‘tabarnak’ right. But they’re invested.
“Here’s what happened. Yes, it was a big surprising success the first time out of the gate and we all sat back and said, ‘Hmmm, this is nutty, and how did that happen?’ It was a huge success in Quebec and then trickled out to the rest of the country. But in the intervening 10 years, something kind of yeasty and bread-like has happened in that people have embraced it as their film.
“There are pockets of people across the country who are maybe more connected to it than their neighbours, but they’re showing it to their neighbours. And they’re buying a copy for their neighbours. They’re saying, ‘Go to YouTube and watch the scene where they put the guy in the trunk and they’re swearing in French. It’s hilarious.’
“So people are telling me these stories about sharing the film in the intervening 10 years, and the next question is always: ‘When are you going to make another one?’ I say: ‘We’re waiting for the right moment, but I’m taking note of your vote. And when we have enough votes, maybe we’ll do that.’
“I must say I’ve been overwhelmed, and the preponderance of this response has been in English Canada. So I am cautiously optimistic. Now we’re going to go out and present ourselves and say: ‘Hey, it’s us again. We’re a little older. We’re a little greyer. We’re a little more beaten up. But we wanted to share this one with you.’ ”
Huard and Feore — as well as Bouchard and Ward — are indeed a little older and a little greyer in Bon Cop Bad Cop 2. Bouchard is still working for the Sûreté du Québec, but Ward, who was with the Ontario Provincial Police in the first film, is now an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. By chance, they bump into each other while investigating a stolen-car ring. Bouchard has infiltrated this gang, and he and Ward end up uncovering a nefarious plot that is much more deadly than simply stealing cars.
“When the first one ended, you see those two guys walking together in slow motion,” said Huard.
“So for me, 10 years later … they have to be closer together. So this time around, it’s more a story of friendship. There’s five times more action, a lot of comedy, but this time around maybe a little more depth. Instead of the confrontation between Ontario and Quebec, the confrontation comes more from the south.”
People are telling me these stories about sharing the film in the intervening 10 years, and the next question is always: ‘When are you going to make another one?’
They do end up in the States — specifically, locked up in a police station near the border in the film’s funniest scene.
They are buddies now, but the old linguistic conflicts are still there.
“Keep in mind that we haven’t changed our fundamental cultural heritage,” said Feore. “We’re still a franco and an anglo trying to get together and do something together. So there’s always those kinds of frictions.”
But the English/French thing is not the main dish the way it was in the first film.
The dialogue is once again bilingual and there will be two versions — one with French subtitles and another with English subtitles.
But the linguistic rift is secondary to the main story about the two cops reconnecting and taking on the criminal gang.
Huard said he didn’t want to repeat the same jokes about the looseygoosey rock ’n’ roll franco guy and the uptight anglo.
“If I want to see the same movie, I’ll watch the same movie,” said Huard. “I don’t want to go see a sequel that’s the same as the first movie. I’ll watch the first one again. I don’t mind watching a movie 10 times if I like it.
“As a country, as a province, as a society, we are 10 years later and our relationship to the language and everybody else on the planet is not the same. So for me, it would have been like telling old jokes to do the same thing.”