Consider this concept for a movie: An old wisecracking New York cop is teamed up with a young wacky sidekick whose sole purpose in the entire film is to do nothing but make jokes. Sound familiar? It should; it’s been the premise for numerous comedies and is the concept for director Kevin Smith’s newest film Cop-Out.
Why after bringing us the films Clerks 1&2 (which were moderately good and had some original ideas) would Smith decide to make another cop/buddy comedy? What can I say about it except that it’s predictable, forgettable and a nonstop bullet train of jokes.
Bruce Willis plays Jimmy Monroe, a smart talking veteran of the NYPD. His partner is Paul Hodges, played by comedian Tracy Morgan.
After being suspended from the force without pay, Monroe must sell his valuable baseball card in order to get money to pay for his daughter’s wedding but while he’s selling the card at the pawnshop, two thieves hold up the shop and steal the card.
Together Monroe and Hodges must go on a wild and crazy adventure to try and get the card back, which has now fallen into the hands of a group of stereotypical Mexican gangsters lead by Poh Boy, played by Guillermo Diaz, who by the way is the worst actor I’ve seen since Hayden Christiansen in Star wars
Along the way the duo take part in cliché car chases, protect an attractive woman, outsmart another pair of overconfident New York detectives, and try very hard to be funny. From the very first scene when Morgan gives Willis an anniversary card to celebrate their nine years working together, to the very end when Willis is giving away his daughter at her wedding, there is nonstop comedy.
In fact that’s Morgan’s only function in this movie: yelling at the top of his lungs, making faces, and being funny. For the first fifteen minutes Morgan was hilarious, but after that his act just got worn out. By the end he was still trying, but it felt like one of those Saturday Night Live sketches (which ironically is where Morgan got his start) that starts out funny but as it goes on dies out.
In this film Bruce Willis is caught between being the funny man and the action hero and he couldn’t seem to find his way, and he didn’t seem to care about this role and therefore not convincing. It was almost like he was getting tired of Morgan as well and was forcing himself to get through the filming.
The lazy and uninspired script, written by Rob Cullen and Mark Cullen, was all over the place with no surprises and corny jokes. For instance, when Morgan quotes a line from Die-Hard, Willis remarks, “I haven’t heard of that film.”
Cop-Out did have quite a few action sequences but they just weren’t that exciting. You know how action films are supposed to keep your heart pounding and wake you up if you nod off? This one doesn’t do that.
If you’re looking for a simple and fun flick with mediocre acting, action, dialogue, a few cheap laughs, and lots of movie references, Cop-Out may be for you and you can leave your brain at home. If you’re looking for a unique, memorable movie experience, look somewhere else.
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