Over the years the buddy cop movie has been done time and time again. Many classics come to mind when you think of the genre of film: 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour, and etcetera. Cop Out is definitely designed to be a reflection of this dwindling story archetype.
Does it succeed? Not really.
Is it funny? Hell yeah.
Normally Kevin Smith is a writer/director you would run to create a fun indie comedy; however, the Hollywood genre machine still seems to be outside of his talents. Don’t get me wrong, he understands all that Hollywood is capable of and is a huge fan of it in itself, but his range for telling a story may be left to comedy. Cop Out had no problem when it came time to deliver laughs. The action on the other hand was a disappointment.
Smith does manage to do one thing that no other buddy cop series has accomplished. He has taken two actors whom have never worked together and given them have a sense of chemistry that really makes their nine year relationship actually believable. Geniusly the film opens on their nine year anniversary and they bicker over the need to recognize the occasion.
Bruce Willis, whom we have all grown up seeing play this type of character, plays the hard nose cop, Jimmy Monroe. So, it was very believable to accept his performance in this flick. What is really a treat is watching Willis act in Kevin Smith’s world. His roots were in comedy long before he became the action star we have all fallen in love with.
Tracy Morgan on the other hand is a completely different animal. He has always been a comedy monster and is amazing at doing it. Acting outside of that box is new to him. In this film he does what he does best act like a child stuck in a man life. He does it so well it almost makes me wonder if he would do a remake of Big. However, Morgan’s portrayal hinders believability in his character.
The lack of believability transfers to a lot of the other cast members. They are all great actors in their own games, but difficult to pull off in this film.
In regards to the antagonists in this film, Guillermo Diaz plays head drug lord and crime boss, Poh Boy. He really lacks any sort of menace to make me fear any of his attempts at villainy. On the other hand, Cory Fernandez, playing Juan is really spooky. Don’t be surprised if you see more of him in the future.
Kevin Smith’s attempt of making buddy cop flick was something that I was cautious about, especially since he did not write the script. My expectations were a little low but I found myself laughing at many key moments it this film that made it well worth the experience of it. Grab a friend, a bucket of popcorn and waste an afternoon with it.
Cop Out is rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violence and brief sexuality. 107 min.
