Kevin Smith is not a director I have much interest in. I like Mallrats, but everything else does nothing for me. I tried watching Jersey Girl a couple of weeks ago, and then I remembered that I could just shoot myself in the face. I do think that Kevin Smith is a funny guy, he just isn’t that great a director. Cop Out is Kevin Smith’s try to make a mainstream film that doesn’t fail, like Zack and Miri. I am not sure if Cop Out will be a great financial success, but it is an enjoyable film. Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan play partners who have been together for nine years. Both are having standard buddy cop problems. Morgan suspects that his wife (Rashida Jones) is cheating on him. Bruce Willis needs to pay for his daughter’s wedding so that her stepfather (Jason Lee) doesn’t. Standard buddy cop elements follow. Personally I love buddy cop elements, and here they are executed well. Willis and Morgan have a surprising amount of chemistry together. Willis is obviously the straight man to Morgan’s crazy antics. If you are tired of all the brosploitation films like I Love You Man then you may not find this movie funny. A lot of the humour relies on what a close partnership Morgan and Willis have. There is even a rival partnership played by Adam Brody and Kevin Pollack. This is all buddy cop 101, so it should be expected. Cop Out is a tribute to 80s cop films and they do a good job. Harold Faltermeyer who did the scores for Beverly Hills Cop and Tango & Cash was even hired to do the music. Cop Out isn’t as sincere a love letter to classic cop films as Hot Fuzz is, but it does try. It is always hard to recommend comedies, so all I will say is that I laughed a lot throughout the movie. As I look up at the poster for my favourite buddy cop film Running Scared I long for the days where men could have an almost intimate bond over killing people. At least Cop Out reminds us of those days.
A Good Banana
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