A Smooth, Comfy Ride Off the Rails

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 2009)

Brits and Americans have different approaches to farce. When American filmmakers set out to be silly, they usually make their intentions plain from the start. In the first five seconds of "Airplane!," for example, the audience knows just what they've let themselves in for. The challenge then is to maintain the lunacy without losing or tiring the audience.
Edgar Wright's golden touch is being silly without being camp or crass. With each subtle jab he leads the unsuspecting audience into a absurdist tar pit of satanic neighborhood-watch cabals, slo-mo boxcutter fights and poetic-vengeance swans.
Some American viewers unused to British culture and comedic sensibilities may not think much of this movie at first; but stick with it. You'll be rewarded with a richness of movie references and inside jokes, as thick and frothy as the "Scary Movies" and their brood without being suffocating. Jeremy Clarkson at this point would compare a creme brulee to a cheeseburger, or something.
To the reviewers here who disliked or didn't "get" this movie: Give up, it's Sandford. Yarp.