COP OUT pays homage, misfires
COP OUT pays homage, misfires
Mar 19
How often can someone let you down before you just plain give up on them? Kevin Smith, I get you, brother. I dig the way you go about your business, speak your mind and eat whatever you fucking well want, but goddamn it, you can make it hard to be a fan of yours sometimes. I’ve done so well to not name this review with a predictably clever swipe at the title Cop Out. It wasn’t all that bad. Yet I feel like I’ve been let down… like you didn’t keep your end of the bargain, sir.
Kevin Smith tries to so the right thing– he sets up Cop Out‘s themes and intentions from the beginning. The very opening shot is supported with a synthetic-pop tune like something straight out the 80s (actually scored by old-school action film composer Harold Faltermeyer). Jimmy (Bruce Willis) and Paul (Tracy Morgan) walk in slow motion through the police precinct hallways. Neat. In the opening dialogue they argue about who gets to go behind the glass and play ‘bad guy’. Claiming his stake as an actor, Tracy feels he’s paying homage when he quotes famous movie lines as part of his interrogation. Bruce corrects him on his pronunciation of ‘homage’… and there we have it. Cop Out is set up: an homage to 80s action buddy cop movies. I only wish this was underlined a little better throughout the film. Cop Out fails the stick to its guns and fully deliver on the promise of the premise: action, comedy and swearing. Starring Bruce fucking Willis.
I should mention that it was the films Clerks (1994) and Chasing Amy (1997) that made me a Kevin Smith fan. These two titles stand out from the others in his filmography as gritty, honest works of film. The other Kevin Smith films, unfortunately, play more like movies. I prefer films, but there’s nothing wrong with a fun action-packed movie. Cop Out is a movie. A popcorn movie. A big-studio popcorn movie, in fact. It’s Kevin Smith’s biggest opening weekend and highest grossing film to date, and it’s a shambles.
The plot is lifted from the buddy cop movie rule book. There was the witty banter, the surrendering of the gun and badge, the other two cops that are equally witty and smug, the ethnic bad guys with subtitles and evil music, the annoying tag-along guy (in this case, Sean William Scott). The bad guys had horrible aim while the good guys never missed. Their cars went faster and their jokes were always timely (even the unfunny ones). All the ladies were sexy and skimpy (Rashida Jones was a goddamn joy in her limited scenes). It’s all here, it all felt very conventional.
So, the point of a homage, I thought, was to honor the genre you’re working within while bringing something new to the table. Cop Out didn’t do this. It was a pure copy-and-paste effort with little or no redeeming qualities. About the only thing new and revolutionary was how much Kevin Smith moved the camera compared to his previous movies. As far as the genre goes, it slipped ass-up and landed with a heavy thud of embarrassment.
You’d think it would take some real balls to sit in a scene with Bruce Willis and take charge. Not many people can say they performed next to Bruce and actually stole the scene, but I believe Earl himself Jason Lee can absolutely say he has done just that. Playing stuffy, smug Husband Number 2, Lee appears to be the only person who actually gets to sink his teeth into some actual character and bring something other than his usual to the screen. Everyone else, Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollack, Tracy Morgan, Sean William Scott, all played variations of things they already do, and never appeared to leave their comfort zones. Which makes sense, perhaps– but was hardly interesting to watch.
I really didn’t want to rag on this movie. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time and Kevin Smith deserves all the winnings he can muster. The red band trailer had me plenty excited when it was released and went a long way to restoring my faith. We’ve had to wait an extra few weeks for the Australian theatrical release, and I was there today – first session, cinema 1. It was half full. Three people walked out before the second got underway. If you’ve seen that red band trailer, you’ve seen at least 80% of the good stuff. Yeah, one of those. I still can’t decide if it’s sorry I feel for Kevin Smith, or disappointment.
Having awarded the movie with a few chuckles I was expecting the third act to hit hard and deliver a thrill or two. It didn’t. The film stumbled over its own pacing and ground itself into a rut with a conclusion that belongs on a television cop show rather than a cinema screen. I have a feeling that, twelve months from now, Cop Out will play well to TV audiences who didn’t bother.
I knew the entire film had misfired when, in the closing sequence, I felt more tense about whether or not Bruce Willis would give his daughter away at her wedding than I did when he was being shot at.
COP OUT
48/100
