'Cop Out' OK, but it's no 'Beverly Hills Cop'
How do I put this? "Cop Out" is not unwatchable, but it’s close. Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan take an almost retro stab at the buddy-cop genre with a silly movie that sounds like Axel Foley is about to strut through a scene and put a banana in somebody’s tailpipe. Only it’s not "Beverly Hills Cop" funny. It’s more like "Mall Cop" funny — strained and goofy. Jimmy (Bruce Willis) and Paul (Tracy Morgan) have been working together in the New York Police Department for nearly 10 years. Jimmy’s only daughter wants a big, fancy wedding in a few weeks, and it’s going to set him back close to 50 grand, which he doesn’t have, but his ex-wife’s new husband (Jason Lee) is willing to pay for it, if Jimmy can’t. What Jimmy does have is a rare baseball card that’s worth almost twice that, one he hopes he can sell to an interested buyer. But before he can, it’s stolen by a petty thief (Sean William Scott) and sold to a major drug dealer who collects sports memorabilia. This is the same drug dealer, Poh Boy (Guillermo Diaz), whose younger brother recently shot up a storefront, getting Jimmy and Paul placed on a 30-day suspension. Determined to retrieve his valuable card, Jimmy makes a deal to find a stolen car belonging to the drug lord in exchange. In the meantime, Paul is freaking out that his beautiful wife (Rashida Jones) might be cheating on him with the next-door neighbor, despite her insistence to the contrary. He’ll set up a nanny cam in the bedroom closet, thinking he’ll catch her in the act. Don’t waste a lot of time trying to figure out the various plotlines, mainly because they don’t make much sense. My advice, if you just HAVE to see this, check your brain at the door, think back when these kinds of films were better, enjoy the nostalgic music, embrace the good times you’ve had with Bruce Willis over the years (he’s earned a pass) and weigh out how a steady diet of Tracy Morgan for 100 minutes is not the same as his clever, fleeting drive-bys on "30 Rock." I see what he’s trying to do — become the next Eddie Murphy or Martin Lawrence — but he doesn’t have the rapid-fire delivery or the physical presence to sell the idea that he’s a cop. Notice, Willis does most of the heavy lifting here, while Morgan sits in the car or hides behind it. Sean William Scott can be funny, but telling knock-knock jokes or repeating what others say feels as old as this genre itself. To my surprise, director Kevin Smith, who is better known for his writing, can direct an action scene, but the writing is where this movie needs the most help. And just because Tracy can say it louder, doesn’t make it funnier. So "Cop Out" should have been called "Sell Out" — since a lot of talented people were willing to dumb down their skills to make this mediocre movie. That’s too bad.
