Josef Fares fans fear not. The Swedish director who brought us the delightful Jalla! Jalla!, which swept the BIFF jury prize in 2001, is bang on form with this light-hearted romp set in the sleepy Swedish countryside.

The film follows the fortunes of police covering a patch where a 911 emergency is a loose cow and the most serious decision they have to make is whether to have onions with their hotdog.

But they seem happy with their lot, filling in their time with disastrous blind dates and making the most of what little action there is.

As someone from the country myself I know the feeling. My first newspaper once splashed their front page with the amazing headline `Beer sales up at Christmas' although rumours that the sub-headline said "Strange coloured light Xmas phenomenon spotted" are greatly exaggerated.

And so the Police plod along until the Grim Reaper arrives, in the shapely form of Jessica, from the force's central bureau.

She reasons that since there isn't anything for them to do they might as well stop doing it and go where there is some crime.

And then a plot is hatched to creatively boost the crime figures, even if it means committing the crime themselves. It starts with vicious drive-by bin vandalism and spirals from there.

All the Fares trademarks are there - likeable characters, crackling dialogue, a simple plot, great music and bags of charm.

I sometimes think the Swedish tourist board must have some sort of stake in the Fares films as they always betray the chilly northern European nation in sparkling sunshine. Every so often the director chucks in a beautiful sunset or charming rustic scene as a little visual treat.

But to this mix come special effects in fantasy sequences where the would-be law and order heroes demonstrate what they could do if forced to deal with gun-totting hoodlums.

Jalla! Jalla! stars Fares Fares and Torkel Petersson are at the centre stage. Fares Fares plays Jacob whose long moustache and greasy locks make him look more Mexican than Nordic while Petersson plays Benny who whiles away his time knitting trinkets for his colleagues and stalking imaginary assassins in his flat.

Jacob falls in love with the meddling Jessica making his plight, and hers for that matter, all the more unbearable. There are some great moments in this film, not least of which are the throwaways.

After being rebuffed by the lovely Jessica, Jacob decides brandishing a pet might maker her feel more sympathetic so he borrows his colleague's dog. But the effect is somewhat diminished by the way he casually slings the unwitting pooch under his arm like a bit of used carpet.

Thankfully Mr. Fares hasn't sold us a pup in his latest home-spun farce which should prove every bit as popular as his last effort.

Matthew Taylor