“Dirty Cop No Donut” (1999)
Studio: Twisted Illusions
Starring: Joel D. Wynkoop, Bill Cassinelli, Kathleen Ritter, Gertina Willemse
Directed by: Tim Ritter
Rated: Unrated
Running Time: 80 min.
Synopsis: A demented cop goes on a rampage throughout the city as his brother records it.
REVIEW
Chris Woods
Dirty Cop No Donut is a very good film that is part mockumentary (or shockumentary according to the filmmakers) part dark comedy and part drama with some action and thrills thrown in there. This film is from the actor/director team of Joel D. Wynkoop and Tim Ritter who made countless film in the 80’s and 90’s in South Florida. The genre that they stuck to was mainly horror, but Dirty Cop No Donut is much different from all their other films.
The movie is about a renegade cop, Gus Kimble (Joel D. Wynkoop) whose younger brother asks if he could document on video a day in the life of a police officer. So, Kimble has his brother follow him around with a video camera while he makes all sorts of stops throughout the night. Most of the time Kimble abuses his power and harasses a number of people such as, pawn shop owners, convenient store clerks, homeless people, and teenagers just to name a few. He also takes down drug dealers, child molesters, drunk drivers, hookers, and abusive husbands, so he is not just bothering innocent people. Kimble will just walk into a store and take some soda and chips and start destroying the place. He also takes some cocaine from a drug dealer and gets coked up every chance he gets. Throughout the film we find out what makes Kimble tick and get a better understanding on why he does what he does and also we get a look at some of his demons.
The film is all done through the point of view of the brother videotaping Kimble. The whole movie is done just like an episode of COPS. Kimble will talk to the camera and explain what he is about to do when he makes a stop. Then the camera catches him going crazy on somebody when he tries to bust them. He even turns back to the camera and yells at his brother to make sure to keep the camera on him. There is a great shot during the opening of the film, where the camera is on Kimble sitting in his police car and he’s talking about life as a cop. There is a strobe light on during the shot, which makes it look very trippie and distorted. Also there is a cool heavy metal tune playing in the background, which is the cherry on top for this scene.
There are many great highlights in this film and just to name a few I will start off with the scenes where Kimble is just walking around the pawn shop or convenient store rising havoc. There is a great scene where he busts a drug dealer and steals all his coke for himself then makes the dealer over doses on his own supply. Another is when he pulls other a woman for drinking and driving and decides to destroy her car with a baseball bat. Probably the best and most memorable scenes in the film are the hooker scene and the child molester scene. The hooker he just picks up and instead of busting her, he brings her back to his apartment to get some action. There is even a part where he pours some cocaine on her breast and snorts it up. In the child molester scene, Kimble barges into his house and catches him in the bathroom. Kimble figures if he throws him in jail he will be out in a couple of days and back on the streets molesting little girls, so he decides to take justice into his own hands. He forces him by gunpoint to cut off his penis. Nothing is shown in the scene and they use a blur effect just as they would for TV, but still the scene is really disturbing.
Almost every scene is done in one single shot with cuts only happening when a scene ends and starts. Wynkoop does an excellent job carrying the film and gives an amazing performance as Officer Gus Kimble. A part that sticks out to me and what I consider an award winning caliber performance is towards the end when the camera is on Kimble in the car and he talks about his father being a police officer and how he stopped and helped some people and they ended up killing his father. The emotion and detail description of the killing of his father Wynkoop gives in this scene is outstanding.
Wynkoop also gives some great one-liners throughout the film. During the drunk driver scene, the woman starts yelling at him to stop busting up her car and she says something like I’m going to report you and Kimble yells “Here’s my badge number, eat my ass!” Then during the hooker scene Kimble asks her where is she from and she says Jamaica and Kimble says “You’re Jamaicing me crazy.” Some others ones happen in that same scene, which are, “Show me some black island sweetness.” or something along the lines of that. Then as he is about to have sex with her, he turns to the camera and starts yelling at his brother to not tape everything and he says “I’m trying to eat here!” Every Wynkoop film has great one-liners, but this film has his best.
A fun fact about the film is that if you watch Men in Black II you will see a VHS copy of Dirty Cop No Donut in a scene at a video store where Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are talking to a video clerk played by David Cross. The tape is in the background when David Cross is on screen. Dirty Cop No Donut is a must see for any Joel Wynkoop or Tim Ritter fan. It will entertain and shock you at the same time.