Cop Out Falls Short

While doing some research on Cop Out, I discovered that it was originally titled A Couple of Dicks—which should be a huge hint about what you are getting with this movie. Ton of cursing? Check. Crude humor? Check. It is intended to pay tribute or homage to the buddy cop comedies that flourished in the 80s, like Beverly Hills Cop and Lethal Weapon, but it just completely falls short.

Odd couple Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) and Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan) have been partners in the NYPD for nine years. Pretty early on in Cop Out, they manage to botch an undercover case involving a drug trade. They are chewed out by their superior and suspended for thirty days without pay. Unfortunately, Jimmy needs his salary to pay for his daughter Ava’s (Michelle Trachtenberg) expensive dream wedding. If he can’t afford it, her stepfather, Roy (Jason Lee), will step in and cover the cost, which Jimmy would hate. So, he decides to sell his valuable baseball card to pay for Ava’s wedding. However, before the sale, it is stolen by Dave, (Seann William Scott) a Parkour fanatic burglar, and ends up in the hands of Poh Boy, (Guillermo Díaz) a baseball memorabilia obsessed gangster, who is also trying to increase his drug trade. Despite their suspension, and throughout the rest of the film, the partners try to track down Jimmy’s beloved baseball card and deal with all the trouble that comes with.

A subplot that is predominant throughout is Paul’s constant fear that his wife Debbie (Rashida Jones) is cheating on him with their next-door neighbor, Henry. He is extremely paranoid about it and resorts to using a nanny cam in a teddy bear to spy on her.

This film is a typical buddy cop comedy, nothing too out of the ordinary. The plot is not mentally taxing and rather predictable. Tracy Morgan did a lot of the heavy lifting with the comedic relief. But was there a script? It appeared that Morgan ran wild with the ad lib. Also, I am still not totally sold on the partnership of Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan—they seemed a little too mismatched. Perhaps a little background on their partnership would have helped you buy into the relationship, but there is none.

Seann William Scott was a nice addition to the film and stood out as the annoying, mimicking burglar. He and Morgan meshed well and provided some laughs. In one scene with Morgan and Scott interacting, it appeared that Willis was even having difficulty trying not to laugh. To see more Seann William Scott shenanigans, stay for the beginning of the credits.

Yes, Cop Out had its funny moments but I couldn’t help but notice that some of the most amusing scenes were shown in the previews. Two notable negatives—at times, the film seemed choppy as it jumped from one scene to the next; especially from the gangsters back to Jimmy/Paul. Secondly, Cop Out had hardly any action! Bruce Willis seemed the most comfortable in the film during those select scenes with guns blazing or in a car chase. I am a Bruce Willis fan, but sorry Bruce, this won’t be on my favorite list.

Overall, Cop Out is not a must see. If you really want to watch it, wait to rent it.