Cop Out

Rating:

There are some great cop movies. There is a fair amount of enjoyable cop movies. There are plenty of cop movies that are terrible. There are occasions where cop movies reach the point of beyond bad. Skip five more steps down that can be used to describe the quality of cop movies, and there you will find “Cop Out”.

Jim and Paul are partners. They love their job, but their job can’t seem to love them. On the road, they are surrounded by asshole criminals. On the station, they are surrounded by bigger asshole co-workers. In the beginning of the film, they get suspended, which means by the end of the film, they will regain their honor. Anyway, between the beginning and the ending, Jim and Paul embark on a journey.

Because they are honorable cops who are dedicated for the greater good, the two of them, without any form of authority, hunt down a missing baseball card, look for a missing car that doesn’t contain the missing baseball card, investigate a case about a Mexican gang leader who kills one of his henchmen every 20 minutes because he misses his missing car, and some other issues that I didn’t really forget but refuse to include here.

Anyway, Cop Out is supposed to be a comedy where most of its laughs are supposed to be caused by Jim and Paul, who are played by Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan. There are jokes every minute or so, and most of these jokes are continued way after the punchline have been delivered. One scene features Paul dressed as a cell phone on the sidewalk. The punchline was the half-second it took me to realize that that was supposed to be funny. Yet, he keeps wearing the suit for at least 8 minutes. The rest of the jokes are delivered in the same elongated, unfunny manner.

I would like give more reasons why I hated “Cop Out”, but that would be elongating a review about a movie that is doesn’t need careful observation to be deemed terrible. To these kinds of movies, I usually give zero stars, but not this time. I liked how Willis and Morgan did everything they could to make this movie work. They are “okay” actors, and will get better recognition when placed in Better Movies. Admit it. “Cop Out” could have been worse. It could have starred Seth Green and David Spade.