Movie Review: “Cop Out”

Kevin Smith made quite a name for himself in the nineties. His films, all taking place in a reality he dubbed the “View Askewniverse,” were unlike anything else playing in theatres at the time. Scripting and directing films that skewered everything from sex and drugs to the Catholic church, Smith was never afraid to push boundaries. He left his signature on each one of his films (very obviously) and audiences more or less knew what they were getting when they went to see a Smith flick. After a few missteps over the last decade, fans have been waiting a long time (almost nine years) for another great movie from the director. It looks like we’ll have to wait just a little bit longer.

Smith’s latest, Cop Out, is the first film where Smith served solely as a director. Tapped by Warner Bros. to direct a script by brothers Mark and Rob Cullen, at the time entitled A Couple of Dicks, Smith served as a “gun-for-hire” on this project. The story follows Jimmy and Paul (Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, respectively), two cops who have been partners for nine years, though they don’t seem to work very well together. After botching an undercover job, they are placed on a one-month suspension. During his time off work, Jimmy visits a collectables store to sell a valuable baseball card in order to pay for his daughter’s wedding. Before Jimmy can get paid, the store is robbed and Jimmy’s card is stolen, positioning the two suspended officers to take the law into their own hands.

While Smith didn’t write the rigid, unfunny dialogue in this movie, he can’t be completely free from blame for just how bad this movie is. As a director, Smith is responsible for pulling genuine performances out of his actors, a task he failed to achieve. It was as if Willis and Morgan just showed up to the set one day and started reading lines, never getting into character. They seem to just be playing themselves, but with badges and guns.

The story is tragically convoluted and stuffed with unnecessary characters and subplots, and so poorly paced, it’s at times impossible to follow. The film also seems to suffer from an identity crisis, unable to decide whether it is an action movie or a comedy; the fight sequences seem out of place, and the jokes don’t land.

Perhaps the biggest offense committed by Cop Out isn’t the abundance of bad jokes, but the script’s insistence on explaining every single one of them. One scene in particular features Tracy Morgan quoting lines from popular cop-movies during an interrogation, followed by Bruce Willis saying what movie they come from. Here’s a hint: if your joke requires a commentary, skip it. Which is exactly what you should do: skip this movie.

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