Cop Out

Cop Out

Cop Out is a very uneven comedy that does have some truly funny moments. The movie is supposed to be homage to all those buddy cop movies from the 80s and 90s. It ends up being weakened by its lame script than the stories it is trying pay tribute to. This is probably Kevin Smith’s weakest movies to date, but it isn’t that bad.

Cop Out is about two crazy police detectives that go out to uncover the whereabouts of a stolen baseball card. They end up getting deeper and deeper involved with some really bad drug dealers. We also get a peek into their personal lives as well.

Tracy Morgan pretty much plays just another version of Tracy Morgan. He has a few funny moments here and there, but he just isn’t very convincing as a cop. Morgan’s character has a strange subplot involving his wife. His character believes she’s cheating on him. This subplot really doesn’t have that much to do with the rest of the story and could have easily been deleted from entire movie.

Bruce Willis as Jimmy Monroe fares a little better. Willis is very good as the “straight man”, but he doesn’t exactly work that well with Morgan. Willis has a subplot too, but his subplot is connected to the plot. It gives the character motivation to get mixed up with the main storyline. Willis knows his way around buddy cop movies and it shows here.

Kevin Smith’s direction is not bad, but there are some action scenes that don’t have the liveliness of some more refined action directors. However, it is nice to see Smith move out of his still-camera mode and into a slightly better kinetic mode. While Smith claims he merely came in to direct the movie, it does feel like he touched up some scenes. However, not even Smith’s reasonable directing effort can save a dull script.

And, that is the biggest problem with the movie. The script wants to turn the cop genre on its head but never takes it to its fullest potential. It doesn’t deliver on its promise and wears itself too thin by the end of the film. Take Beverly Hills Cop, it has a straightforward plot that doesn’t diverge into useless subplots. Cop Out wants to parody Beverly Hills Cop, but doesn’t seem to understand what made that movie good. The references to the other cop movies are vague and not that funny. With that in mind, I think Kevin Smith should have passed on this movie.

Harold Faltermeyer’s score, while paying homage to those cop movies from the 80s, does seem out of place. While I liked his work in Beverly Hills Cop, I feel his style has grown stale in today’s climate. I feel the same way about Vangelis. The really synthesized electronic scores need to be dropped altogether. I understand Smith wanting to pay tribute to those old scores, but I could have done with a little less.

Cop Out isn’t a total failure, but the weak script does hurt any momentum the actors try to bring to the screen. Kevin Smith does an okay job directing action, but his witty dialogue isn’t there, because it wasn’t his script. Cop Out is kind of a letdown. Smith and the audience deserved better.

Grade: C

Ana de la Reguera is stunning and very pretty as the character everyone is after. She has a dirty mouth and with it all being spoken in Spanish. She is fine in the movie.

Seann William Scott is another person that deserved more scenes. He was very funny.

Even for a living cell phone, roaming charges are a bitch.

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Seann William Scott: “Please tell me you’ve seen all the American Pie movies.”

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At this moment, Bruce Willis is realizing that “Punked” guy is banging his ex-wife.

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Even though he’s dressed as cell phone, he still gets better reception than the new iPhone.

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Bruce: “Shit, they’re watching a rerun of "Moonlighting".”

Tracy Morgan: “Moonlighting, what’s that?”

Bruce: “…It’s nothing…”

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Tracy: “SNL Police. We’re looking for the career of Chris Kattan.”