Kevin Smith must be getting old. Clearly, he forgot he was making Cop Out and not another Jay and Silent Bob movie.This comedy, if you can call it that, follows Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) and Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan) as they try to find a baseball card stolen from Monroe. Over the course of the film, they become embroiled with local drug lords.
I assumed Smith is getting old because from the beginning of Cop Out, Monroe and Hodges make all the same jokes from other Smith movies. However, the difference is, in Jay and Silent Bob movies, the jokes work.
Two dropout losers killing time outside the Quick Stop telling wiener jokes and cussing because they can is different from two New York cops doing the same. Crass humor has its place and can be funny, for example, Superbad is great, but the comedic timing is broken and the jokes fail throughout this film. The plot in Cop Out possess as little depth as the humor.
The plot exists only to get from one swear-dependent joke to the next and development of any type is nearly nonexistent. Also, the movie depends too much on jokes that are overplayed. A swearing eleven-year-old? That’s not a staple of how many other bad movies.
At times, characters completely disappear from the plot and don’t reemerge until they can participate in an off-color joke. But, based on the acting in this horror show, that might have been a good thing.
Willis fails miserably as a take-no-nonsense cop in this movie. You might ask, “how is that possible? It’s the only role he plays.” He misses the mark because throughout the film, he wears a smirk and expressions that depict even he knows how bad this movie is. From the beginning, he is aloof to the action happening before him.
Most of the lesser characters in the film came across as dull and forced. The only respite from this exercise of nocuous acting is Morgan.
Even with Morgan doing his best and he is funny, this film is complete garbage.
This movie is a pitiful display of a once great moviemaker who has lost his way. I can’t recommend anyone see this movie because I wouldn’t be able to sleep well knowing I lied.
MPAA Rating: R
Final Grade: D-
Next Issue: Alice
