A lot can be said about "Cop Out", the latest film from director Kevin Smith. The simple plot created by writers Robb and Mark Cullen has been accused of being a rip off of even the funny satires on 1980's buddy cop movies "Lethal Weapon" and "Beverly Hills Cop".The first recent satire that comes to mind is "Showtime" with Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro. I never saw it, but the concept almost seems similar: a straight man played by an action star teams up with a quirky loose cannon played by an eccentric black cast member graduate of Saturday Night Live.
That movie didn't receive good reviews and probably foreshadows this movie perfectly in that sense. Reviews claimed that "Showtime" was a poorly written satire that did little to make the audience laugh or observe the funny cliches.
Let us jump to "Cop Out" and see if this applies.
The story follows two police officers, played by Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as they fight a Mexican kingpin (Guillermo Diaz) to get a rare baseball card back to fund a wedding for Willis' daughter's wedding. Willis and Morgan get suspended from the force after a heist goes wrong and they're unable to catch the culprit.
By this point, we've narrowed the similarities down to 100 films. Maybe with a little synthetic music you can drop 20 off of that list and with the pop culture references, maybe you can pick from a dirty dozen.
But then again, movies have been ripped off from each other, going back to Woody Allen, who famously referenced the Marx Brothers in numerous films, including Oscar winning "Annie Hall". This doesn't necessarily mean "Cop Out" is a bad film just because it makes numerous references and parodies.
But what does that make "Cop Out"? A little dull.
Anyone who even devotes a second to Kevin Smith knows what to expect from his work. Even in the opening segment, lead in by a terribly edited version of Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" (I really had bigger hopes for that scene just on song edit alone), Tracy Morgan comes out swinging with references to at least 15 movies (and yes, fans of Smith will recognize an unintentional "Clerks" reference) and a visual dick joke.
Somehow in that fire, Morgan delivers his "30 Rock" charm with a hit and miss result. A lot of his references work because of the mad cap delivery, but others will just confuse the hell out of you (even to the point where you don't exactly understand what he's saying). While the character is inspired, his hit and miss oftentimes becomes an annoyance, waiting to be saved by Bruce Willis.
Enter Guillermo Diaz, who plays the same character he played on "Weeds", except less menacing and terribly stereotyped as a bad ass. While this story is important to have a villain, Diaz is at times ineffective because even Kevin Smith fans must realize that he lacks skill in two areas that are sadly highlighted in this movie: 1.) Drama and 2.)Action.
Yes, Smith has done action scenes before, but they weren't center pieces as in this one with an overlong ending that drags. The only achievement in dramatic is the quick change from the funny first half to the second half, and even then Morgan finds time to drop a few jokes, which only confuse the feeling of tension in the movie.
I had one hope for the movie. I wish there was more of Seann William Scott. His character was the most endearing as he played an ambiguous spy for Diaz who later flirts his way into Morgan's inner circle. These scenes of chemistry between him and the leads remind you of why Smith put him in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back".In fact, if Scott had a bigger part in this movie, there is a possibility that not only would it have been a better movie, but he would've gotten top billing for being so amazingly funny. This is one of the few things that make the title "Cop Out" ironic.
What's my verdict on this movie?
As a Kevin Smith fan going on four years this summer, this is a confusing mess. I appreciate his desire to branch out into action scenes, but as he stated in a podcast review of "Watchmen", he can't do action. This explains the lack of appeal to those scenes and the missing suspense. His dramatic flare has not matured yet, so that doesn't even help to compensate the action's failure.
But I see this movie as a critique paper for his fans. He tried something new and even though it's not as solid or funny as his previous works, we should see that he's tired of Jay and Silent Bob and ready for someone new. The vibe has yet to be captured perfectly (though VERY close on "Zack and Miri Make a Porno"), but like "Mallrats" proved 14 years ago, we have to let the future efforts determine if this was actually a movie that had to be made to learn from or if it's just a bad action movie.
On the plus side, while I find this movie dull and flawed, it definitely is a mediocre 80's buddy cop satire that works. Tracy "Madcap" Morgan is not nearly as solid as he is on "30 Rock", but with some hard work, he might be able to transition to movie star. And Seann William Scott? If I had to ask Smith for one favor, it's to use Scott more often in your work.
So go see it, but do know that this qualifies as the "Mallrats" of the post-Jersey trilogy.
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