A police movie without "perps," guns or cars, On the Beat is as perversely droll in its own way as the latest Coen Brothers outing. It follows the on-the-job training of a rookie beat cop, Yang Guoli. With no serious offenders to interrogate, Yang's frustration grows. Meanwhile, American action signposts like Hunter reruns and Marlboro posters mock his diligent efforts to preserve and protect Beijing's traditional social structure against capitalism's odious side effects. Ning's lucid, realistic style captures one small irony after another, while her deadpan nonprofessional cast of real policemen displays exceptional comic timing. In its low-key way, a pointed indictment of bureaucracy and hypocrisy.-Michael Fox, San Francisco Int'l Film Festival