Starring: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Seann William Scott, Ana de la Reguera, Kevin Pollak, Adam Brody, Guillermo Díaz, Rashida Jones, Jason Lee, Michelle Trachtenberg,

Directed by: Kevin Smith

Warner Brothers Pictures

The Official Site of Cop Out

Discuss Cop Out on the boards!

There’s been more talk lately about writer/director Kevin Smith’s run-in with an airplane seat and an over-zealous Southwest Air employee then there has been his latest release Cop Out. America is fascinated with the battle of the bulge, especially one that takes place tens of thousands of feet above sea level, but this homage to 80s buddy cop movies is just as deserving of our attention.

From its Fletch inspired score to its rival team of buddy cops that butt heads with our heroes, Cop Out is a love letter to this genre. It reeks of the 80s nostalgia that we all grew up on, complete with quotable lines and an obscene amount of gunplay.

The film opens by introducing Paul (Tracy Morgan) and Jimmy (Bruce Willis), To the sound of the Beasties Boys and a pan across the skyline of New York City we watch Paul and Jimmy stomp into the room and begin to conduct a very unorthodox interrogation. It’s hilarious. Tracy, unleashes his comedic beast with a ferocious restraint. That came out dirtier than I expected it to. Throughout the film Morgan manages to be over-the-top but in control. He is much more than a maniac let loose on screen. Willis balances him out as the willing straight man, there to subdue the goofier cop’s antics but still have some fun of his own. It’s a fine pairing and the scene where we meet them should give you a pretty good idea of the rollercoaster you’re about to board. Though my buddy John was quick to wan on the latest edition of The Crappy Movies Podcast, “If you don’t like the opening scene – you’re screwed.�

This is perhaps a little dramatic but if you don’t laugh in those opening few minutes it could be a long night at the movies.

To explain their story would be pointless. Cop Out moves and evolves to quickly, never becoming too complicated to follow but certainly to busy to explain. I don’t see that as a problem although I did take issue with its revolving door supporting cast. Characters come and go like they’re refilling your water glass. Popping in long enough to serve a purpose before vanishing to the sidelines presumably to further someone else’s plotline along. Should we care about this person? Should this unexpected death scene trouble us? No time to focus on that nonsense.

Cop Out is a huge departure for Smith who is, for the first time here, directing a film he didn’t write. Gone are the crutches of dirty talk and Star Wars references in favor of telling someone else’s story. He also jumped in with a brand new crew and without resorting to his gallery of familiar faces. Smith’s casting couch has been the definition of Hollywood nepotism but Cop Out is categorically Affleck-less. The only obvious casting from that era is that of Jason Lee who hams it up brilliantly as the stepfather of Jimmy’s daughter. No Jay, no Bob, no indulgences to the past. Smith is acknowledging a new direction and a new era that he’s been teasing since God closed a book on this universe in the closing credits of Dogma

(Tracy Morgan and Sean William Scott both appeared in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back but I wasn’t going to make that a run-on sentence just to be thorough. Which I’ll agree is odd as I have no problem making run-on sentences pretty much anywhere else in the review. But NEVER for thoroughness… Their characters were memorable but brief. Broken down – it’s nice to see some new blood.)

Not being in charge of the script means that the film is potentially missing the long-winded, pop culture debates that Smith built a career on. Sure I missed the occasional onslaught of clever crudeness but not being married to the material suits Smith. Cop Out features a pacing and rhythm unlike any film we’ve ever seen from him. Without pages of dialogue to burn through in each scene, the characters are able to be funny, shoot a bad guy and move on. I love detailed discussion about Wookie genitals as much as the next guy but it’s nice to see that, when needed to, Smith can let a movie move at its own stride. It was a very welcome change of pace. Literally.

Cop Out is far from flawless but its most obvious shortcoming is that its action doesn’t come close to reaching the unrealistic absurdity of the films that inspired it. Filled with late night car chases and close quarters shoot-outs, the action of Cop Out is grounded in reality (and perhaps a more modest budget then the Lethal Weapon crew had to play with back in the day.) It’s all shot well and is fun but not nearly big enough. John McClain is your lead. Toss him through a few windows.

Even without the grand spectacle of an exploding toilet or hand-torn throat (If these references make no sense go do your 80s action homework) Cop Out brings big fun and a nostalgia like we haven’t had for this genre in a while. At the very least we can explain away the underdone action with the same excuses our favorite buddy cop movies of all time used - They’re saving a little something for the sequel.

Being wildly funny makes Cop Out a stand out this time of the year putting similarly themed movies like From Paris with Love to shame. It takes tried and true techniques and rams them right up your funny bone.

Smith proves here that there is life outside his own world, that he can play someone else’s games and still be a valuable player. Valuable enough to ensure that he’ll be able to afford a second seat on his flights for the foreseeable future.

This is kind of an easy decision for me. I love laugh-out-loud comedies with a high replay value and that definitely describes Cop Out. Toss in a weed-fueled commentary and some behind the scenes footage on how they suckered Bruce Willis into signing on and you’ve got yourself a solid disc. Plus I’m glutton for punishment when it comes to Smith. If I bought Zack and Miri… I’m buying Cop Out.

I’ll admit that it’s a little strange to slam Kevin Smith in one breath (the comic) and praise him in the next (the review) but this is a case where I followed the “funny� and it lead me down a very cynical path. That’s “funny’s� problem. He’s a dark son of a bitch but sometimes it’s best to let him do his thing.

I’d like to think that Smith would be able to look at something like this and see the humor in it but the truth is if the roles were reversed I would be insulted and hurt. I respect him as a filmmaker. Even though he’s far from a master I think he’s made some great movies and it’s unfair to attack him on a technical level. Okay, it’s not unfair but I definitely feel uneasy about it. I often wish I could find a joke that doesn’t rely on attacking someone. If I were as good a writer as half the people I attack then I wouldn’t find myself in this predicament.

To get the full story about his battle with Southwest Air be sure to check out episodes 106 and 107 of Smodcast or check out his Twitter account where he live tweeted the whole thing and even recounted a conversation with The Terminator. Crazy cool.

We did two shows of The Crappy Movie Podcast discussing Cop Out and for some reason the casting notes of the forthcoming Speedy Gonzales movie. One episode is dedicated to the film and the second to its spoilers. We normally lump these together but Talkshoe started acting up and we took it as a sign to reboot the discussion. It is an editing nightmare but it lead to some nice stuff. We sort of went mental by the time the second show kicked in.

John and I were also lucky enough to go to the NY premier of the film where this pic of Tracy was snapped. Bad composition but at least the celebrity involved gave 100%.

Thanks for stopping by, gang.