Alternative to What: Police Academy 4:: Citizens on Patrol (1987)

Left to right: G.W. Bailey and Steve Guttenberg

Welcome to Alternative to What: a weekly column that tries to find a great alternative to driving to the multiplexes. Based on releases of that week, the selections will either be thematically related or feature recurring cast and crew. The goal is to help you better understand the diversity of cinema and hopefully find you some favorites while saving a few bucks. At worse, this column will save you money. Expect each installment to come out on Fridays, unless specified. 

THIS WEEK:

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)

- Alternative To -

Let's Be Cops (2014)

With exception to poor timing with its release, I personally have loathed Let's Be Cops since seeing the trailer for the first time. In a summer that has given us 22 Jump Street epitomizing lazy writing, this somehow surpassed it with a very dumb premise in a very dumb world that somehow expects us to believe exists. The trailers are painful to watch and while the idea of a film based solely around taking cosplay to the next level could be interesting, it does seem doubtful that Let's Be Cops was the best execution. Comparisons to New Girl be damned. That show hasn't been good in awhile, anyways. 

It isn't like the bar for police comedies is high. However, to have aspirations to impersonate cops in a lowbrow medium is just ill conceived. There's nothing new and the solid cast is wasted. Instead, I will shift you to a different take on the civilian taking up the ranks of the law and making something even more bizarre, creative, and arguably shoddy. In fact, the entire franchise doesn't necessarily work on a story basis, but collecting a series of moments together, and what this week's suggest has is a lot of worthy moments in a muddled film.

This week's recommendation does come with a caveat. Since I recommended The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear awhile back, it did seem hard to locate a different police film to recommend. In fact, there is countless arguments on the merits of all Police Academy films beyond the first one (which even then was maligned). If anything, it has only gotten less gripping in the narrative department and chooses to focus on the antics of its many cops. It is an old style vaudeville show in a lowbrow format. The gimmicks are unique to each, but it is imperative that the audience be ready for lowbrow humor and a not necessarily well thought out plot. For me, I have an occasional soft spot for the Police Academy movies and back this week's suggestion.
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol has a specific tie into Let's Be Cops. Both feature civilians getting a badge and wreaking havoc. Where Let's Be Cops focuses around two central friends, this film focuses on a group of police officers with varying levels of intelligence that result in gag-after-gag-after-gag-after-gag. In some cases, performers like Michael Winslow or Bubba Smith do great work while others don't as much. It is a crap shoot and if you didn't like the first Police Academy, this one won't be for you. Nonetheless, it is citizens taking the law into their hands. There's a hot air balloon and everything goes crazy. It also features the young Tony Hawk and David Spade, if it's any consolation.
If there is one attribute to Citizens on Patrol, it is that it is the last actually good Police Academy film. While Steve Guttenberg wasn't necessarily the greatest or funniest part of the films, he was the anchor who grounded the over-the-top performances of everyone else. In the sequel, Assignment Miami Beach, Guttenberg departed and left everyone else to run the show. To say the least, it wasn't entirely a masterful experience and the series fizzled out after another installment. With an intended reboot from Keegan-Michael Key (who is in Let's Be Cops) and Jordan Peele, there is a chance that this film will become relevant again. Probably not.
Either way, movies about civilians as cops isn't always the best payoff. It often results in some complicated subjects and the humor always comes from a place of sketchy mire. Police Academy isn't necessarily a great franchise, though it does have its share of memorable moments for those that enjoy it. If you can get into nothing but gags, then Citizens on Patrol will likely be for you and even if it isn't the height of the Police Academy franchise, it is the final dawn of the quality films that eventually delved into self-self-parody in a bad, bad way. Either way, don't see Let's Be Cops, which is the dumbest premise for a film this year so far.