by Tim Gordon
Despite featuring action-hero icon Bruce Willis and funnyman Tracy Morgan, director Kevin Smith’s latest film, Cop Out feels like just that. This generic and average story will entertain you briefly but breaks no new comedic ground and is nothing you haven’t seen in over two dozen previous buddy cop comedies.
New York detectives and partners Jimmy (Willis) and Paul (Morgan) open the film with their share of problems. After a routine sting goes awry, the two mistake-prone detectives are suspended without pay for 30 days. The suspension could not come at a worse time for Jimmy who is trying to pay for his daughter, Ava’s (Michelle Trachtenberg) expensive wedding, and stick it to her affluent but irritating stepfather, who is trying to pay for his baby girl’s special day.
Things aren’t going much better for Paul who is obsessed that despite his beautiful wife, Debbie’s (Rashida Jones) denials that she is cheating on him. Paul is so convinced that he resorts to going through their trash and ultimately planting a visual device in a Nanny-cam. While both of the friends deal with their insecurities, Jimmy decides to sell a priceless baseball card to get the cash to take care of his daughter’s wedding. Unfortunately for him, his card is jacked by an eccentric and offbeat thief, Dave (Seann William Scott) who in turn fences it to a memorabilia-craved Mexican mobster, Raul (Juan Carlos Hernández).
But just when our two detectives locate the cartel leader’s whereabouts, he makes them an offer they can’t refuse offering them the card in exchange for a stolen Mercedes with precious cargo. Jimmy and Paul are in a race against time to find the property before their colleagues close on them sending them both to jail.
Smith, who wanted to make a traditional and average Hollywood film, has done just that. Despite the gravitas of Willis in an overly familiar role as a detective and the utter unpredictability of Morgan the film manages to entertain but never get off the ground. The script by the Cullen Brothers has several funny moments but collectively, the story leaves you wanting more.
Both Willis and Morgan have winning chemistry with each other invoking memories of one of Morgan’s idols, Eddie Murphy, and his partner, Nick Nolte in 48 Hrs. or Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black. Much of the scenes between the two find Willis trying to keep a straight face as Morgan brings his buckets of funny. But when Cullen’s script inserts Scott with the two partners, the funny is truly amped up. One of the film’s funniest scenes is when Scott mocks and harasses a flustered Morgan constantly repeating his phrases.
Even the customary buddy cop sex appeal of sexy Mexican actress, Ana de la Reguera (Nacho Libre) fails to liven up the action but does create some amusing moments between her and Morgan.
While Morgan is an endearing second banana, he doesn’t possess the presence to carry a big-budget film on his own. Directing a film that he didn’t write for the first time, Smith succeeds in creating a traditional buddy comedy that looks and feels like dozens of others that have come before. While that is notable and funny, at the end of the day, our two bumbling detectives are far from Brooklyn’s Finest.
Grade: C-