Cast: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Juan Carlos Hernandez; Director: Kevin Smith; Producers: Polly Cohen Johnsen, Marc Platt, Michael Tadross; Screenwriters: Robb Cullen, Mark Cullen; Music: Harold Faltermeyer; Editor: Kevin Smith; Genre: Action/ Comedy; Cinematography: David Klein; Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures; Location: New York, USA; Running Time: 107 mins.Technical Assessment: 2.5
Moral Assessment: 3
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above
Cop buddies Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) and Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan) receive a one-month suspension without pay for bungling up a bust operation which ends up with an informant dead. Bristling with indignation, the two surrender their official firearms and badges but continue to do their own investigating. Feeling very sure of their hunches, they get involved in the usual police work as though they were not under suspension, barging into homes and arresting suspects without warrants, rescuing hostages and madly pursuing and shooting dead those they think to be the bad guys. Will a couple of daring but disobedient cops fight lawbreakers while defying rules themselves?
The action/comedy flick directed by Kevin Smith has all the elements to entertain moviegoers as long as they don’t demand much beyond what’s served them. Car chases, shoot-outs, a bit of drama in relationship snags, laughter, tension from good guys versus bad buys battles—ingredients that keep you amused and alert for around a couple of hours. If the more critical moviegoer detects weaknesses in Cop Out, it is perhaps due to the fact that it is Smith’s first shot at mainstream action-comedy entertainment. While Smith has built a reputation as a ground-breaker, he is better known as a writer than as a director, thus his being the director but not the writer of Cop Out would be responsible for the movie’s occasional weedy spots, like poor camera angles, talking heads, trite gags and villains no one would take seriously.
So that you won’t berate yourself for coughing up nearly two hundred pesos (including the popcorn and soda) for the love of Bruce Willis and then finding him not quite up to your expectations, look at the brighter side of Cop Out. Indeed it has some bright and solid notes that pull the movie up considerably, like that part where Paul goes mad with suspicion over his wife’s fooling around, and that where Jimmy gets into a battle of wills against his ex-wife’s husband (about his daughter’s forthcoming wedding). Watch out for those two moments because they provide subtle leads into your own ideas about good and bad. They’re good points for discussion with family, classmates, friends or prayer community as well. As for the predictable but implausible ending which should make you question the worthiness of the two cops who pursue a case on their own and in spite of their suspension order, be reminded that Cop Out is meant to be action/comedy—and if you understand that its primary aim is to entertain, you’ll see why its plot is based on fantasy, not reality.
