April 16, 2010
Cast: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Juan Carlos Hernandez, Sean William Scott
Director: Kevin Smith
Remember those light-hearted, buddy-cop movies of the 80s? Films like 48 Hours and Lethal Weapon..? Well, Cop Out directed by Kevin Smith is intended as a throwback to those enjoyable action comedies.
Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan are teamed as NYPD partners trying to retrieve a rare baseball card owned by Bruce Willis’ character, that is the key to paying for his daughter’s expensive wedding, and also to busting a drug cartel run by a feared Mexican gang-lord. But the leads have less chemistry than a prom queen and the school nerd, and while Bruce Willis appears to be literally shrugging his way through the film, Tracy Morgan is loud and irritating, and overacts to the point where you wish the bad guys would just shoot him.
There’s a clever portion in which Tracy Morgan intimidates a criminal using lines and expressions from classic films. It’s the funniest scene in this film. It’s also the first scene in this film. And it’s all downhill from there.
The only other faint entertainment is provided by Sean William Scott who plays a thief who likes to take a dump in people’s toilets before robbing their homes.
It’s hard to believe this film was directed by the same guy who gave us smart comedies like Clerks andChasing Amy. I guess the dirty jokes are the giveaway. I’m going with one-and-a-half out of five for Kevin Smith’s Cop Out. Don’t punish yourself; avoid this one.