Cop Out (2010)

I was prepared to begin this review of Cop Out by making a lame comment about the film’s title reflecting the career of Bruce Willis. To an extent, that criticism may still apply. But this time, Bruce’s usual game is elevated above the norm, largely due to the presence of his co-star, Tracy Morgan.

This movie serves up so much from the old buddy-cop movie formula, it’s as if the script was constructed out of MadLibs. Old, wizened cop Jimmy (Willis) is partnered with brash, inexperienced younger cop Paul (Morgan), polar opposites (one white, one black, of course) who form an uneasy crimefighting alliance. A police operation they’re working on–using a snitch to nail a drug dealer–goes awry, leaving the pair harangued by their by-the-book captain (Sean Cullen) and suspended from the force. To regain their dignity, Jimmy and Paul must go rogue to nab the villain with delusions of grandeur and badassitude, Mexican drug dealer Po’ Boy (Guillermo Diaz), who got them into trouble in the first place.

Furthering the formula, our bickering heroes each have domestic issues roiling their personal lives: one is dealing with possible infidelity, the other with financial needs. They’re also repeatedly hassled by a couple of legitimate cops still on the force (Kevin Pollak and Adam Brody). Throw in a car chase in a cemetery, a sexy damsel in distress (Ana de la Reguera) who holds the McGuffin the bad guy seeks, lots of gunfire, and a couple of crazy comic relief characters–particularly Seann William Scott, who steals all his scenes as a drug-addled, parkour-lovin’ thief–and you have a movie about as satisfying as a box of Hamburger Helper.

Director Kevin Smith, known more for his cult following thanks to movies like Clerks and Dogma, goes for the studio-release mainstream with Cop Out, and the results are predictably uninspiring. The only moment close to being interesting from a directorial standpoint comes near the end, when Tracy Morgan’s face is humorously framed by a bullet hole. Other than that, Smith seems to merely be a traffic-cop director here, staging conventional action sequences and letting the stars dictate their own rhythms.

Cop Out, however, does have a couple of high cards up its sleeve. For starters, it doesn’t waste time with a lot of exposition. Within only a few minutes, it’s established that Jimmy and Paul have been partners for nine years, we immediately see what sort of characters these two guys are, we have our first comedic set piece–a riotous barrage of dialogue lifted from other movies as Morgan interrogates a suspect–and from that we’re launched right into the story. The screenwriters seem to have at least some awareness that audiences for this kind of movie don’t care about the background details, so let’s just cut to the chase and get to the good stuff.

As for the aforementioned comic relief, besides Seann William Scott’s grinning nutbag of a role, there’s a scene with a foul-mouthed 11-year-old car thief, along with Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm) earning laughs as a gun-waving mother. Strangely, Kevin Pollak, who’s a hysterical stand-up comedian and impressionist, as well as a fine actor, is wasted in his role as a boot-obsessed cop. And top-billed Bruce Willis, whose comedic background traces all the way back to Moonlighting, seems a touch reserved given the film’s humorous tone. Maybe he realized he was in Danny Glover’s straight-man role from the Lethal Weapon franchise. or perhaps he just backed off in deference to the overenergy of his co-star.

Make no mistake, Cop Out is Tracy Morgan’s movie, and in terms of sheer laughter generation, he produces the bulk of it. I’m a little surprised to write this, as I’ve never been a particular fan. I found his efforts on Saturday Night Live uneven at best (same for the show in general), and I just don’t care for 30 Rock at all. The idea of watching him on the big screen for two hours filled me with sense of trepidation, but I was impressed at his line delivery and timing, all the way down to his little momentary eccentricities like wiping his nose. To his opening salvo of memorable movie lines, I would add a gem he utters later in the film: “I like to watch chimpanzees gettin’ head.” And I defy you not to at least chuckle when he utters a menacing line in a tattoo parlor.

Morgan’s performance guarantees at least one sequel to this movie. It’ll be formulaic, too. But when it’s enveloped in laughs like Cop Out, it’s more entertaining than some of the far-too-serious alternatives.

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