Cop Out

What on earth has happened to Kevin Smith? It’s hard to believe that the director of Clerks would 16 years later be giving us dross like Cop Out. Clerks is still an undisputed classic, but Smith has been on a slide for a long time now and Cop Out could be the nadir. The biggest problem with the movie is that though it’s supposedly a homage to the 1980’s staple of buddy cop films, this isn’t clear from watching it. Is this really a nod to Lethal Weapon et al, or is it a parody? You could see it either way really. Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan are the cops in question in this one, who, and tell me if you’ve heard this one before, get suspended at the start of the film due to a botched sting operation! Oh, the originality. Suffice to say, they continue with a subsequent investigation and you get the usual mixture of action and quips. There are a few funny laughs to be had, but they are few and far between. To be fair to Morgan, he does put his heart into it and doesn’t come across as annoying as in the trailer. Sean William Scott also pops up with a few laughs. Willis meanwhile flies along on autopilot. Overall though, the film just reminds you as to why these kind of movies have fallen out of favour somewhat. You can still enjoy the old ones (a lot of them through rose tinted glasses of course) but this proves this genre is moribund for the moment, not helped by the awful score. If you really go in expecting nothing you may get some enjoyment, but I’d say this is only worth watching for Kevin Pollack’s two second impersonation of De Niro. Honestly, unlike Cop Out itself, it is a cracker.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Homage or not, this just isn’t funny or smart enough to refresh a cannon of films not really that popular at the moment. Rating: 3/10