Cop Out Review

Cop Out Wallpaper, Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan

Starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as long-time NYPD partners ostensibly tracking down a baseball card, Cop Out was conceived as a parody of buddy-cop flicks such as “48 Hrs” and “Lethal Weapon.” Cop Out affects such a generic, mid-80s feel that you keep waiting for the wink. You keep watching, expecting that, at any moment, director Kevin Smith is going to tip his hand – to spoof the genre, send it up, make fun of it. In other words, you keep waiting for him to have his characters wink at the camera as if to communicate the fact that this is all meant as a joke, not to be taken seriously. And they do. But the joke's on them…read more [The Huffington Post]

Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan in Cop Out “Cop Out” marks indie hero Smith's first attempt to direct a script he did not write and given the absence of his garrulous dialogue and sweetly obscene sensibilities, the shortcomings of his craft are made all the more apparent. Smith's directorial style is far too slack for this material, which aims to be an homage to populist '80s classics like “48 Hrs.” and “Lethal Weapon,” but only winds up resembling one of the bargain-bin knockoffs that floundered in those films' wake…read more [Variety] Tracy Morgan is a funny guy – in spurts. Two sketches in a one and a half hour Saturday Night Live episode? Funny. Seven minutes and a couple of one-liners in a 30 Rock? Funny. Every scene of Cop Out? Headache. The first scene sets up everything that's wrong (and right) with director Kevin Smith's foray into studio, by-the-book filmmaking. In the opening, Jimmy (Bruce Willis) and Paul (Tracy Morgan) exchange witty partner banter before heading into an interrogation with a drug pusher, that quickly escalates into a forum for Paul's knowledge of movie quotes and Jimmy's disapproving, head-shaking abilities…read more [UGO]

Seann William Scott and Tracy Morgan in Cop Out Cop Out is an LOL movie – as in, you'll find yourself laughing out loud constantly, and at the stupidest jokes imaginable. The funniest lines come from Tracy Morgan, who's given more freedom for his bizarre brand of comedy than he gets on 30 Rock. (Fair warning: if you don't normally find Tracy Morgan hilarious, you may not experience the same level of blissful enjoyment from the jokes about his poop in Cop Out as I did.) It may feel familiar, but that's by design; Smith and writers Robb and Mark Cullen have borrowed from all of their favorite cop comedies and actioners of the ‘80s and ‘90s, paying homage to all of the most obvious clichés of the genre. And while Cop Out doesn't really have anything new or important to say as a film (except “Weren't the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard movies awesome?”), it's fun while it lasts…read more [Movies.com] Director Kevin Smith has said that one of the things that appealed to him about making “Cop Out,” his action comedy starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, is that it's the kind of movie the filmmaker's late father would have liked. It's a shame the old man isn't around to enjoy it. Much of the movie feels about 25 years too late. Let's start with the music, by Harold Faltermeyer. It isn't clear whether Smith chose the composer, notable for scoring all three “Beverly Hills Cop” movies, to evoke the cheesy synth sound of a bygone era — the golden age of the cop buddy flick — or merely to replicate it. As it is, the music sounds less like homage than hoary cliche. It's not the only thing that hasn't aged well…read more [Silive.com]

Tracy Morgan in Cop Out Now let's consider the package. First, take a moment to laugh at the innuendo of considering a package, because you'll need a sense of humor like that to get through this. Next, think about what we have here. Morgan is funny. Willis is Willis. The genre is inherently gratifying, and the style is self-effacing. What could possibly go wrong?..read more [TFT] There really is no good reason to recommend “Cop Out.” There are, however, about a dozen bad ones, starting with the fact that it's the first gross-out comedy to come along since “The Hangover” that is actually a comedy and not just gross, although make no mistake, gross it is — this is a Kevin Smith film after all — so don't say you weren't warned. But there is enough ridiculous fun in the Tracy Morgan- Bruce Willis pairing as two of Brooklyn's “finest” to get many of you past the squirm-inducing stuff, like the graphic poop jokes, though the sheer verbal dexterity of the screenplay on the subject is so disgustingly inspired at times that the rest of you will be wiping away tears. I'd give you an example, but nothing would make it past the censors here…read more [LA Times]

As bad buddy cop comedies go, “Cop Out” is perhaps one of the better ones. Taken as a piece of storytelling, it's guilty of the capital cinema crime of trashing itself: repeatedly disrespecting its own reality. On the other hand, taken as a way to kill some time watching fairly skilled comic actors like Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan and Seann William Scott be funny in a loose and genial way, it's reasonably enjoyable. That, however, does not excuse its numerous sins…read more [Bullz Eye] So, what does Kevin Smith bring to the table as a director for hire? Whatever the studio wants, apparently. The notoriously loquacious, foul-mouthed filmmaker is more respected for his abilities behind a pen than a lens, so the studio's motivation to hire him to handle Cop Out is a bit of a head scratcher. With little preamble, the title screen pops up and we meet our “couple of dicks” (the superior original title) about to interrogate a suspect while discussing the longevity of their nine-year partnership. One of the film's running gags is built on Paul's (Tracy Morgan) inability to play the bad cop unless he's reciting lines from popular movies, ranging from Schindler's List to Robocop and Die Hard (Bruce Willis's Jimmy Monroe hasn't seen that one, of course)…read more [Exclaim.ca]

Bruce Willis and Michelle Trachtenberg in Cop Out

Cop Out info:

Directed By: Kevin Smith
Written By: Robb and Mark Cullen
Runtime: 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violence and brief sexuality.
Release Date: Feb 26, 2010