By Valerie Milano
Palm Springs, CA (The Hollywood Times) 6/25/25 – There are films that expose corruption. Others ignite debate. And then there’s Never Get Busted — a documentary so unflinching, so deeply subversive, it practically dares you to watch without reconsidering everything you thought you knew about the War on Drugs.
Premiering at the 2025 Dances With Films Festival, Never Get Busted follows the explosive real-life transformation of Barry Cooper — once a decorated Texas narcotics officer, now one of America’s most outspoken critics of drug enforcement. It’s a story of moral reckoning, personal rebellion, and a man’s fall from grace turned crusade.
“I’m David Anthony Ngo, the writer and director,” the Australian filmmaker told The Hollywood Times. “After years on the streets of Texas, [Barry] saw how ordinary Americans were impacted by the war on drugs and the illegal tactics police used. That moral crisis sparked a complete shift in his direction.”
Click below for our exclusive interview:
Barry Cooper wasn’t just any cop. He was elite — skilled at finding drugs, praised for high arrest rates. But when a raid he led devastated a family eerily similar to his own, his conscience cracked. What followed was the origin story of a man who went from locking people up to teaching them how to avoid it.
“I used to kick down doors and arrest people for doing the same thing I eventually taught others to get away with,” Cooper says at one point. “That’s not irony. That’s guilt.”
Never Get Busted documents how Cooper repurposed stolen police training materials to launch a viral how-to series, Never Get Busted Again, helping users evade detection and exploitation by law enforcement. “Once he left the force,” director David Anthony Ngo added, “he saw an opportunity to repurpose his insider knowledge. His partner helped him see the drug war differently… He essentially became a whistleblower.”
The film captures this transformation with urgency, blending archival news clips, body-cam footage, and interviews that turn the documentary into something part true crime, part punk-rock protest. Director Anthony Ngo and producer Erin Williams-Weir wisely resists easy narratives. “We hope viewers come in with open minds,” said Williams-Weir. “We present all sides—no political agenda—just raw stories.”
And raw they are. One of the most harrowing sequences explores asset forfeiture abuse — homes, cars, and cash seized from citizens never formally charged. These stories hit hardest not through statistics, but through faces.
The emotional center of the film is Cooper’s inner conflict. He’s charismatic, volatile, and as one critic in the film notes, “reckless.” Yet Never Get Busted doesn’t try to absolve him. “Barry experienced harassment, legal challenges, and deep personal tolls on himself and his family,” said Williams-Weir. “It’s a roller coaster of standing up for beliefs and facing the consequences.”
The film’s premiere at Dances With Films was a moment of reckoning in itself. “Barry returned to the U.S. for the first time in 13 years for the Q&A,” Williams-Weir shared. “It was emotional, and audiences were deeply engaged.”
While Never Get Busted centers on a singular figure, its scope is national — and deeply relevant. As Anthony Ngo put it, “There never seems to be a perfect moment — police misconduct and activism costs happen every day. The story stays current no matter how long we work on it.”
Indeed, this isn’t just a documentary. It’s a provocation. A reckoning. And a dare.
Final Verdict:
Never Get Busted is a brash, provocative, and emotionally charged film that doesn’t just tell a story — it detonates one. Whether you see Barry Cooper as a whistleblower, a renegade, or something in between, this documentary demands your attention — and your judgment.
Catch it if you can. Then try to forget it. You won’t.
Follow the Film and Team:
Website: nevergetbusted.com
Instagram: @nevergetbustedfilm
Barry Cooper: @barrycooperTX
David Anthony Ngo: @dave_ngo
Interview Conducted By:
Valerie Milano, Senior Editor, The Hollywood Times & Aspiring Magazine
hollywoodtimes.net
YouTube: Hollywood Times Official
