Cop Out

Unquestionably Kevin Smith’s weakest movie to date (and, perhaps not coincidentally, the only endeavor within his filmography he didn’t write), Cop Out follows bumbling cops Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) and Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan) as they reluctantly agree to track down a stolen Mercedes for a vicious drug lord (Guillermo Díaz’s Poh Boy) – with their ongoing efforts at locating the vehicle ultimately triggering waves of chaos and violence. Though it’s clear almost instantly that Smith is going for the feel of an ’80s buddy comedy, Cop Out suffers from a hopelessly low-rent sensibility that’s reflected in virtually all of its attributes – with Morgan’s almost astonishingly incompetent performance effectively exacerbating the movie’s myriad of problems. The actor, who shouts and mugs his way through the entirety of Cop Out‘s overlong running time, subsequently finds himself unable to make a real connection with any of his costars, which inevitably results in a disastrous lack of chemistry between his character and Willis’ Jimmy (ie they’re simply not compelling together, nor are they believable as partners). The ensuing atmosphere of pervasive tedium is particularly disappointing given the inclusion of several overtly positive elements, including enjoyable cameo appearances by a number of familiar faces, Harold Faltermeyer’s gloriously old-school score, and an ongoing emphasis on impossible-to-resist cop-movie cliches (eg the angry captain). It’s ultimately the lack of momentum that cements Cop Out‘s failure, as the movie is simply unable to hold the viewer’s interest for more than a few minutes at a time – with the less-than-enthralling vibe compounded by Smith’s inability to wring either laughs or thrills from Robb and Mark Cullen’s relentlessly meandering screenplay.

** out of ****