Monday, March 1, 2010

Cop Out - Review

This past weekend i caught the new Kevin Smith directed buddy cop movie, Cop Out. As you all probably know by now, Kevin Smith did not write the film, but was hired on to direct it only. I have seen every Kevin Smith film, and every one since Chasing Amy in a theater.

I consider myself a fan of Smith, but i am not as enthusiastic about his films as much as when i was in high school. It seems as i have been maturing, Kevin Smith hasn't. His films have looked better over the years, but not by much. When i go into a Kevin Smith film i usually go into it with lower expectation. For a guy who i have been following for as many years as i have, you would think that my expectations would rise. There is something about Kevin Smith's films, that will always feel like an indie film from the 90's.

As soon as Cop Out started i could tell it was a Kevin Smith movie. A generic establishing shot, silent, with a shitty font is interrupted by some outdated song that is way too obviously trying to convey a message. In this case, it is a shot of what i assume was Brooklyn because after the the awkward pause and shitty font "No Sleep til Brooklyn" began to play. It is almost Smith's calling card, to let you know to take the movie lightly, because he is just that one guy who started as a clerk in a New Jersey convenience store. It was only ten seconds into the movie and i was already preparing for the worse.

Once i got through the first scene, in which Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis interrogated a perp, i was reminded that i actually can relax and enjoy Kevin Smith's newest movie. Of course that shitty font from before was blown up real big to reveal the title of the movie. Jesus dude, what is up with the shitty font? This is Kevin's Smith's most slick looking film, yet that font looks so fucking cheap! Why don't some movies just use the font from the posters? It's always baffled me.

After a couple minutes being frustrated with that font, i started to get back into the movie. As i said, the movie looked really slick. For a budget of $30 million, i thought he put together a really good looking film. I think that DP Dave Klein did a great job. He is to be commended for giving the movie some life.

Another key factor into making this movie really enjoyable was Harold Faltermeyer. Some of you might know Faltermeyer's work from such films as Fletch, Beverly Hills Cop and The Running Man. All of those movies, from the 80's, used nothing but synths in their scores and Cop Out does the same. The score, mixed with Smith's directing style, really make this movie have the feel and pace of an 80's buddy cop film, which is something i really enjoyed.

The story of Cop Out is really tough to convey in a short amount of time, but the real reason someone goes to see this movie is to watch the antics of Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis. I have to tell you, every time these two were on screen together it was an incredible pleasure to watch. There are a few scenes where they are not together and it's just not that great. My only gripe with the characters Jimmy Monroe and Paul Hodges is that they were not up to "those wacky antics" throughout the entire movie. They are not the crazy cops that i was hoping for. Their methods are not as insane as you would think. It's not that the characters are straying from the comedy aspect of the story, it's just that the commercials lead me astray of who these two guys were. Tracy Morgan is funny as is Bruce Willis, i just hoped that the movie was "straight-laced cop and insane cop".

One of the highlights of the film was definitely Sean William Scott! Sean William Scott's Dave character is an annoying drugged out psychopath, who could have been way too annoying. I admire Kevin Smith for showing restraint on this character in particular. If there was too much of Dave, it would have killed everything. Another highlight was "the other cops" Hunsaker and Mangold. The two cops that are in direct competition to Hodges and Monroe was brilliantly played by Adam Brody and Kevin Pollack.

One misstep as far as characters goes, was Kevin Smith's use of bad guy "Po Boy". The character was all over the map and off-putting at times. The character should have either been all the way goofy, or all the way intimidating. I definitely blame this misstep on Smith. I wish he could have figured out this character more fully before committing it to screen.

My last gripe with this film is Kevin Smith's editing. I understand why Kevin Smith would want to edit all his movies, but this has always been my problem with Smith's films. You can tell by watching it, what scenes Smith loves. A lot of times, his scenes play out like a dvd director's cut, which always translates into poor pacing issues. I really wish that Smith would hire a professional editor to work with so that Smith could please the audience and not just himself. I just chalked up the weird pacing to "It's just like an 80's movie".

Other than the weird pacing issues and shitty font, me and Stevi found ourselves really enjoying the film, a lot! I had a blast watching these two guys interact. I would even go as far as saying i would love to see a sequel. Even though i am still a Kevin Smith fan, i would love to see someone different direct the sequel. If Kevin Smith showed some restraint in the editing room and less restraint on making Tracy Morgan stick to the script, this film could have been really amazing! As it stands it's just a good, entertaining movie.

All in all, i was really surprised about how much i liked Cop Out and would love to see a sequel that pushes the boundaries of the vulgar buddy cop action comedy.

★ ★ ★ ½

4 comments:

Unknown said...

And the old gray-haired people 2 rows down from us didn't leave mid-way through! They didn't leave at all like I called it at the beginning of the movie. They laughed and had a good time!

Ralph- said...

It was a really good time. The more i think about this movie, the more i like it. But i still hate that font. So awful!

pursuit agent said...

You saw Jersey Girl in the theatre?

Ralph- said...

Yep and it was good.