Review of Cop Out (2010) by Andre B — 14 Feb 2011

This is the first Kevin Smith film that he didn't write, the first one he didn't produce with Scott Mosier, and the first one backed by a major studio, it is also, right along with Jersey Girl, the worst flim he's ever made. Seriously, I heard Mr. Smith, someone who I really like and respect, say that the appeal of making this film was that it seemed like the sort of flick his late father would have liked, and with all due respect, I dare say Mr. Smith's father didn't have that good a taste in film.

Cop Out is a buddy-cop movie that follows every single cliché the genre has to offer, the gags are seriously horrible, the kind that would only be acceptable in a blooper reel at the end of a funnier film, and the pacing is just as off.

It tells the story of Jimmy and Paul, the two cops played by Tracy Morgan, who is nowhere near as funny as he is on 30 Rock, and Bruce Willis, who acted alongside Smith a couple years ago on Live Free and Die Hard. The film is bad, yes, but what kept me from giving it a failing grade was that it was still a Kevin Smith film, he didn't sell out entirely, the film still has his trademarks all over the place: a vintage Justice League action figure is shown which is reference to his love of comic books, and a ton of films are referenced from Gone with the Wind to Dirty Dancing to, of course, Star Wars, and obviously, there's that typical childish dirty humor that's present in every Kevin Smith film.

I like that about Mr. Smith, he's a true geek, like me, and that's what his films are all about, a whole lot of geeky references with the toilet humor we loved when we were ten, and if you start throwing around shit like that, shit which has seen Mr. Smith enjoy quite a bit of success, it is bound to hit the fan once or twice.

And that is one of those times, because Cop Out is, quite simply put, rather shitty. It sees Mr. Smith use badly his two leads, and it sees us struggle to find the rest of his directorial style which is there, but isn't that discernible in the midst of these horrible gags and utterly dumb display of humor.

Grade: C-.