Review: Cop Out

I had always been a big fan of Kevin Smith's work sticking up for films like Clerks and Mallrats which other people found completely uninteresting. Then he made Jersey Girl and then Zack and Miri Make a Porno, both of which had their moments but ultimately seemed like vanity projects. So for the first time, Smith is directing a film he hasn't written instead the film has been written by TV writers Robb and Mark Cullen trying their writing on the big screen for the first time. Cop Out is essentially a buddy cop film in the vein of Lethal Weapon but because of the comedy element I think they were going more for the Loaded Weapon movies. The plot sees Bruce Willis suspended from his job after partner Tracey Morgan steals from some kids after being on a job. Willis needs to pay for his daughter's wedding and tries to sell a valuable baseball card but the card is stolen and both men then try and find the card and obviously get sucked into a plot involving all sorts of criminal masterminds.

I have to say Smith competently directs his actors but the scenes in which they are in are completely contrived and cliched this isn't a pastiche more of a complete rip-off. After a day or so of watching the film I have already forgotten what the criminals were hoping to achieve from their diabolical plotting and also why it was so important to Willis to get the card back. Willis is good enough doing his gruff exasparated cop routine that has been his go-to performance in recent years. As the 'funny one' Tracey Morgan essentially plays his 30 Rock character but gives him a little more brain power and a little more paranoia. The sub-plot in which Morgan thinks his wife is cheating on him is again very predictable and I'm still failing to see how Rashida Jones' character would fall for Morgan in the first place. There are some nice supporting performances notably from Adam Brody and Kevin Pollack as the snide colleagues of Willis and Morgan and from Jason Lee as Willis' ex-wife's new fella. But overall this is mediocre at best and failed to make me laugh or care about the predicaments of the various characters.