Torrente: The Dumb Arm of the Law

Torrente: The Dumb Arm of the Law is a Spanish comedy about José Luis Torrente, a Madrid police officer whose life is a tangle of corruption, heavy drinking, and loud prejudices. After his ex-wife leaves him with their son, he is left to fend for himself and throws himself back into police work, teaming up with a nervous, film-obsessed neighbour named Rafi. The two of them try to bring down a gang of heroin traffickers using a Chinese restaurant as a front.

The film was directed and written by Santiago Segura, who also plays Torrente. It was his second feature as director, following Evilio in 1992 and preceding Torrente 2: Mission in Marbella in 2001. Alongside Segura, the cast includes Javier Cámara, Neus Asensi, Chus Lampreave, Tony Leblanc and Julio Sanjuán, among a large ensemble.

The film is set in the shabbier corners of Madrid and draws its humour from Torrente's chaotic, misguided attempts at policing. Made on a budget of around one million dollars, it took roughly ten million worldwide, a strong return that helped establish the character as a fixture of Spanish popular cinema. On IMDb it holds a 6.8 rating from about 15,000 votes, and on TMDB it sits at 6.5 from a much smaller pool of around 341 votes.