Review of Cop Out (2010) by Travis B — 29 Nov 2012

Cop Out.

Starring: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Guillermo Diaz, Adam Brody and Kevin Pollack.

Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime.

Director: Kevin Smith.

Rated: R.

Long time NYPD cop Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) needs to pay for his daughter?s wedding his only hope is to sell a rare baseball card handed down to him from his father; When it gets stolen he and his partner Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan) must hunt it down and get involved with a baseball obsessed gangster who intends to take over the New York drug trade.

Cop Out is the first film directed by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mall Rats, Chasing Amy) that he has not written the script for. Gone are the overly long soliloquies and dialog heavy small films that have become Smith staples. It?s nice to see Smith branch out of his comfort zone and pay respect to the buddy cop genre of film. From the opening minutes which jump from an interrogation scene laden with clichéd cop movie quotes being thrown out by Morgan while Willis names the film to the ?bust gone bad? scene to the ?police chief takes the badge and the gun while chewing them out scene? you know that this is a movie that is in on the joke.

The music screams Beverly Hills? cop 2 and the music is pulled straight out of the 80?s. Everything about Cop Out is a loving tribute to the genre.

Morgan (who shows that he can be a star when he rained in just a little bit,) is hilarious as Hodges particularly when he is paired against the intentionally obnoxious small time thief Dave (scene stealer Sean William Scott). Willis (in one of his best roles in recent memory) plays off the stereotypes he has helped create and adds not only humor but some heart to the story; as the cop who just wants to be a good father and not look like a jerk compared to wealthy stepfather Roy(Jason Lee). Gone are the one line wise cracks of the rogue cop version of Willis and in its place is the unforced banter between partners that feels more natural and much funnier.

Paying homage to the buddy cop movies of the 80?s Smith hits every synthesized note.