Post by StevePulaski on Jul 2, 2011 22:20:28 GMT -5
Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis.
Rating: ★★
It isn't Kevin Smith's fault Cop Out's turn out was ugly. I'm sure if he was in charge of writing, not directing, we wouldn't get terribly unfunny scenes shouting "no, no, no, hell no" over and over again. During one of Kevin Smith's brilliant Q&A sessions I'm sure he'll bring up Cop Out, and while discussing the film, all of his comments will most likely be funnier than the film itself.
I like Bruce Willis, he's one of the most notable movie heroes in American cinema. I also like Tracy Morgan, a guy who easily walks into trouble when he is doing a comedy special. They both play a very forced, and a very uninspired duo as two NYPD officers Jimmy Monroe, a divorced father, and Paul Hodges, a loud-mouth, paranoid husband.
Jimmy's wife left him because of his constant obsessions with his job, and since is trying to give his daughter the wedding of her dreams. The only way to do so, is to sell an ultra-rare 1952 edition Andy Pafko baseball card worth maybe tens of thousands of dollars. They are soon caught up in a drug lord's plot after Jimmy is robbed of his card when he is about to have it appraised. The two go on a wild and insane rampage to retrieve this card.
The dialog is composed of Bruce Willis's stern attitude, Tracy Morgan's unnecessary shouting, and an annoying and mundane good cop/bad cop act with the two of them. Seann William Scott also appears doing nothing to help the screenplay by just mimicking everything the characters say. That's the idea for comedy.
There is also one scene which is about thirty seconds of unnecessary bowel movement talk when Jimmy and Paul see a burglar go to the bathroom in the house. Why? Who thinks it is funny to see grown men, especially Bruce Willis of all people, talk seriously for more than three seconds on bathroom humor?
The film still has its share of funny moments. There are a few one-liners I found cute and amusing, and the story did keep me slightly interested for most of the film. It just shocks me to see Kevin Smith's name on a picture that lacks any form of formal or well performed dialog and includes characters, performed by big name actors, that are hardly even "characters" at all. They are nothing more than two cop units in the storyline.
Centered around cliches, bathroom humor, and a barely passable storyline, Cop Out is a mess of all forms. It can't tell if it wants to be a satire on buddy cop movies, or an action film that includes cliche chases and bad dialog. Whatever it is trying to be, it doesn't come close to succeeding.
Starring: Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. Directed by: Kevin Smith.