Cop Out Review

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

If there is one thing that no one can knock Kevin Smith for, it’s the amount of heart and passion he puts into every single thing he does. Cop Out is just that, a movie with a tremendous amount of heart, but, missing some brain.

Cop Out is about two veteran NYPD detectives played by Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. When Jimmy (Willis) discovers he needs money for his daughter’s wedding he decides to sell his rare child hood base ball card. At which point the card is stolen and the plot leads Jimmy and Paul (Morgan) on a hunt for the card and encountering every single buddy cop cliché ever.

The film is meant to be a homage (which plays a key part of the opening scene) to buddy cop films, I can agree with that to a point. But unlike a film like Hot Fuzz which pulls off the clichés and homage from beginning to end, Cop Out because maybe a bit too self aware and end up dragging itself down.

One of the biggest problems I have with the film is the editing. Kevin Smith is a great writer and a competent director. But, editor he is not. The reason it hasn’t been a problem until now is because all his other films were not edit intensive. Any editor (including myself) will tell you that editing dialogue, though requiring finesse is not difficult. However, action is a whole other beast. The film, especially during the action scenes would have worked much better is an editor by trade had edited the film. I am quite surprised Warner Brothers didn’t push one to be honest.

One of the things that really push this movie is the brilliant 80’s style score by Harold Faltermeyer. Known for some of the most iconic scores of the 80’s (Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop) Faltermeyer gives Cop Out a flair and through that, a soul. The score adds a very comical aspect to Cop Out that, on top of a very comedic performance by Tracy Morgan (who I am not normally a fan of) works very nicely.

Is Cop Out a step forward for Kevin Smith, maybe, we will have to wait and see. But it does prove he is capable, but he needs to push himself more. This film was still too much in his wheel house and that is when the film falls apart at times. I will be interested to see what happens next.

7 out of 10