Cop Out

Buddy-cop movies were far from high art when they dominated multiplexes in the ’80s. They were brash, politically incorrect crap—and proud of it. Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop and, one of my personal faves, Tango and Cash were trash cinema, lush with violence, vulgarity and nudity. After reading that director Kevin Smith would, in essence, be paying homage to this genre with his latest, Cop Out, I was hoping for some good, trashy fun, served up Smith style. Smith has proven himself to be a maestro of filth in the past, and he seems like the right guy to pilot a film with an ’80s cop-genre feel. However, the film is a halfhearted misfire, featuring an over-the-top performance from Tracy Morgan and a sleepy one from Bruce Willis. They play two cops searching for a missing baseball card, and even though they have an R rating, things are relatively tame. Smith didn’t write this one, and that is evident—because it’s not very funny.