Cop Out

Ben's Review of Cop Out

Normally, trying to get my wife to see a cop buddy flick is very difficult because there almost nothing resembling a love story or a montage of girls coming of age during the 1940s. However, my wife is something of an anomaly because she loves Kevin Smith. This is one of those things that I do not question and just go with. So when it turned out Kevin Smith was directing and editing a cop buddy flick starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan I was in and, more importantly, so was my wife. Unfortunately, most likely because I have not gone to Church in nearly 15 years, this was not one of Kevin Smith’s best efforts.
The story finds Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as long time partners on the NYPD. Predictably a sting operation goes wrong and even though Bruce and Tracy did everything they could to save this operation, they are inevitably suspended for their loose cannon antics. Of course , even a suspension from the NYPD does not keep these two from fighting crime on their own and…… Okay, let’s stop right here!
Kevin Smith really upsets me sometimes! How long can someone’s back story carry him before he finally gets it right consistently? I love Clerks, basically because here is a guy who was a convenience store clerk who writes, produces, and directs a movie, using his friends as the cast, to make a black and white movie about convenience store clerks. It was great because the acting was bad, the lighting was bad, the editing was bad, but the story and the characters were hilarious. Unfortunately, this is where Kevin Smith became very uneven. His next effort, Mall Rats, was more overly produced than a Cher album, and the dialogue was really really really wordy. The next effort, Chasing Amy, almost made me write off poor Kevin altogether, again because it was too wordy and looking back on it now, kind of dumb. Strangely enough though, Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back were pretty good. It seemed that Kevin could stop being wordy and really obtained a sense of comedic timing. Then there was Jersey Girl and out of respect to George Carlin I will not discuss this movie here. However, again in a Pheonix out of the ashes move, Kevin Smith came out with Clerks II which was surprisingly well written, funny, and actually touching in parts. Zach and Mira Make a Porno was also not bad and entertaining.
So following the Kevin Smith pattern we have Copout which I think was suppose to be a play on the cliché of cop buddy movies. The problem with this movie is that it goes back and forth on funny and serious and in a strange turn of events this script did not have enough words or direction or editing or production. I think Kevin can do better and for his sake I hope he does soon.
As an extra, here is my top ten list, in no particular order, of the cop/racially diverse buddy movies that are better than Cop Out:
1. Forty Eight Hours
2. Beverly Hills Cop
3. The Last Boy Scout
4. Die Hard
5. Beverly Hills Cop 2
6. Die Hard with a Vengeance
7. Running Scared (the Billy Crystal Gregory Hines one not the Paul Walker Guido flick)
8. Red Heat
9. Live Free or Die Hard
10. Heat


Elisa's Review of Cop Out

I am going to come clean and admit to a lot of things for this review. Many things that most people who know me, do not know at all, including, my husband. I guess I should start with my previous obsession with Kevin Smith. It coincided with my Dave Mathews obsession. For YEARS, on a daily basis I logged onto www.viewaskewnews.com. At that time, it was the go-to for all the most current info on the View Askew Universe (Smith's production Company) and Kevin Smith news. Kevin Smith would "journal" daily from movie sets, update on projects, castings, script re-writing and events, in a pre-twitter, blogging, facebook world. There were links to fan clubs and the like. You cold buy booble-head Jesus from "Dogma" and autographed hockey sticks from "Chasing Amy." My favorite feature was a
trivia game called "27" (reference from "Clerks") that asked a series of Kevin Smith trivia questions, quotes from his movies. I had the highest score for the month of July 2001. I was obsessed. That same Summer, I went to see "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" at the movie theater on opening night, by myself. I couldn't convince my cute, well-dressed girlfriends to see this trashy movie with me, and I was single. *SIGH*

So, as all things come and go, I eventually scaled back the daily dose of Kevin Smith and continued to evolve in life. A part of my heart forever belonging to Mall Rats and Kevin Smith for making it, I continued to stay updated and the viewaskew universe. That led to the viewing of "Cop Out" with Ben.

The Trailer didn't look so bad...A Kevin Smith movie staring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. I thought, it would have to be funny, clever, witty and make me laugh. It didn't. The movie was so bad, I didn't even get irritated at the old guys talking the entire time during the movie.

I should be more fair, it wasn't THE WORST movie I have ever watched, and I probably would watch it again on HBO, maybe. The usually parade of Kevin Smith friends were no where to be found, but for Jason Lee who was completely wrong for the role of the rich, evil step-father. Jason Lee is "Brody Man" or "Earl" but definetely not a guy that can marry Bruce Willis' ex-wife. Even in a movie.

So, all that being said, Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis and long-time partners of the NYPD who get put on "unpaid administrative leave" after a disasterous sting that lead to Tracy Morgan chasing down a drug dealer while wearing what I can only describe as a "foam" cell-phone mascot costume. Looking for a way to pay for his daughter's wedding that is happenig in three weeks, Bruce Willis' character decides to sell a very valuable baseball card. I have to argue this plot point, in reality, in New York, deposits would have been due long before day-of-wedding. Back to the story, the baseball card is stolen at the Comic Book store by Sean William Scott's character. Eventually, a gang-bangeresque drug lord obsessed with sports memorabilia gets the baseball card and Willis and Morgan must enter into a deal with the gangster to get it back. Botta-bing-botta-boom.

Where is the Kevin Smith of my youth? Where are the fantastic one-liners and set-ups? "You had sex with the dead guy in the bathroom?" Clerks. "I was going to propose, as Jaws popped out of the water." Mall Rats. FINGERCUFFS? SNOWBALLING? He opened my naive, young mind to so many possibilities. I blame the heroism of Brody played by "professional" skateboarder Jason Lee in "Mall Rats" for a poor relationship that I stayed in waaay to long.

Could it be that I have grown up and Kevin Smith has not?

His attempts at grown-up reality humor in "Jersey Girl",included one of two known on-screen relationship pairings of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. The other was "Gigli." "Clerks 2" was just odd. It didn't feel right, although we did learn about "ass to mouth" and included a Donkey Show. I liked "Dogma." The concept was original and hilarious. His good movies are like a great reunion of his characters, mixed and matched for a new role.

Really, much about Kevin Smith's work just doesn't feel right anymore, kind of like having a teacher from high school tell you that you can call them by their first name now. Weird.

So, in the tradition of lists, here is my ranking of Kevin Smith movies:

1. Mall Rats
2. Chasing Amy
3. Clerks
4. Dogma
5. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Also, I think it should be mentioned, that David Pirner (lead singer from 90's rock/grunge band Soul Asylum) has been the music producer for most of Smith's films. The Soundtracks are creative collections and every other track is dialogue.