STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED
Unmissable
Excellent
Good
Poor
Tragic

POSTER ART

Click poster to enlarge

More posters to select

FILM DETAILS

Certificate 15

Cast Bruce Willis Tracy Morgan Seann William Scott Adam Brody Kevin Pollak.

Directors Kevin Smith.

Screenwriters

Running Time 107 minutes

LATEST FILM REVIEWS Iceman, The Behind The Candelabra Before Midnight Everybody Has A Plan Easy Money 5 STAR REVIEWS My Neighbour Totoro Gatekeepers , The Stoker In The House Lincoln

Cop Out
More Lethal Injection than Lethal Weapon

Tweet

Plot
Maverick partners Jimmy (Willis) and Paul (Morgan) are kicked off a case without pay, which jeopardies Jimmy’s plans to pay for his daughter’s wedding. He decides to sell his prized baseball card, only to lose it to some Mexican gangsters. Now the crazy duo will stop at nothing to get it back.

Review

Browse more images »

There’s a fine line between comedy and tragedy. Take, for example, Cop Out. After all, it purports to be a comedy. It stars Bruce Willis, who’s been known to deliver a droll one-liner or 20 in his time. It co-stars Tracy Morgan, a man whose every utterance on 30 Rock is designed to make you lose touch with your sides. It’s directed by Kevin Smith, who knows his way around great comedy dialogue. It should be a whipcrack, burst-half-the-blood-vessels-in-your-face gigglefest. And yet watching these talented comedians strain to wring even the tiniest laughs from leaden, moronic material crosses the aforementioned line. This is just tragic.

Part of the problem could lie with the fact that Smith didn’t write it — instead, the script was penned by Robb and Mark Cullen and was considered good enough to make the 2008 Black List, which gathers together the best unproduced scripts in Hollywood. How that happened is a complete mystery, for it’s an absolute clunker, witless and coarse, bulging with unlikable characters (the original title, A Couple Of Dicks, was apt) and forgettable dialogue. As Smith has frequently noted on his Twitter feed, Cop Out is a tribute to the buddy-cop flicks of the ’80s and ’90s, from Lethal Weapon to Beverly Hills Cop. But when you’re inviting comparison to movies written by the likes of Shane Black, you’d best bring dialogue to match. Sadly, the Cullens fail spectacularly, with an opening sequence in which Morgan intimidates a suspect by yelling movie quotes at him (and yes, there’s a Die Hard reference in there). Not once in the following 100 minutes do we hear a single line remotely as good as anything in this sequence. Hardly surprising, since most of it was written by other people.

With Morgan’s screaming manchild act rapidly wearing thin, and Willis limiting his performance to various modulations of his smirk, it seems that we’re headed for a one-star black hole. But then along comes a supernova in the form of Seann William Scott, whose brief turn as a smart-arse burglar ignites the movie and generates genuine hilarity. So, naturally, he’s soon sidelined in favour of the mismatched cops. Told you it was a tragedy.

Write Your Review
To write your review please login or register.

Your Reviews

Average user rating for Cop Out

...

First film I've turned off before the end in a while. Tracy Morgan's unfunny shouting schtick wasn't funny to start with and after 45 minutes I was about ready to tear my ears off. ... More

Posted by UTB at 22:09, 29 May 2011 | Report This Post

Passable

Willis wasn't on form and some of the jokes simply died but for harmless easy sundaynight watching not dreadful ... More

Posted by Zayd Awan at 21:22, 13 November 2010 | Report This Post

Average. ... More

Posted by reminn at 11:36, 03 November 2010 | Report This Post

Be fair...

As a piece of harmless fluff it's more than entertaining and thats all it was ever going to be. But I do agree that Kevin Smith can do a hell of alot better. But I really enjoyed this regardless. ... More

Posted by PaulJohn at 08:02, 05 October 2010 | Report This Post

Funny In Places But Not Good Enough

I feared that Cop Out wasn't going to be funny and would be a right load of crap. But there was some funny moments and a few actions scenes that were good though the plot was poor and have seen a lot better comdey movies in my time. So it's worth checking out if you like this sort of thing but avoid if you don't. ... More

Posted by joanna likes films at 09:36, 26 September 2010 | Report This Post

Funny In Places But Not Good Enough

I feared that Cop Out wasn't going to be funny and would be a right load of crap. But there was some funny moments and a few actions scenes that were good though the plot was poor and have seen a lot better comdey movies in my time. So it's worth checking out if you like this sort of thing but avoid if you don't. ... More

Posted by joanna likes films at 09:36, 26 September 2010 | Report This Post

Cop Out is a movie which will simply appeal to some and not to others. It's a matter of taste, really, and commenting about the film's strenghts and weaknesses is quite difficult when they're especially hard to pin down. A one-liner might erupt laughter in one person, ignite a few giggles here and there and create absolutely no effect in the majority, so who am I to say that Cop Out is one of the worst comedies of the year? Or, for that matter, the best? I can safely say, however, that it certai... More

Posted by djphilips at 12:32, 23 July 2010 | Report This Post

whilst there were funny bits throughout the film, it was far from funny, No plot, no decent bad guys, Please avoid at all costs. ... More

Posted by bigdog1000 at 12:22, 22 July 2010 | Report This Post

Yes Kevin, put down the Pot and get back to doing what you do best...

...writing. Writing is the most valuable skill in movie making and should not be squandered, I for one would love to have your ability. You're addiction to marajuana and food is ruining your career. Like all addicts you've surrounded yourself with Enablers, Jennifer Schwalbach and Scott Mosier I'm looking at you. ... More

Posted by Cameron1975Williams at 15:06, 23 May 2010 | Report This Post

Smith is hit and miss. This and Zack and Miri were absolute poison. Clerks 2 was excellent but that seems a ery long fucking time ago :( ... More

Posted by sephiroth7 at 20:30, 22 May 2010 | Report This Post

I guess I'm the only one...

I liked the movie, it was an easy watch, I laughed quite a few times and enjoyed the simple plot. It was fun, much better than I expected. ... More

Posted by odddaze at 10:49, 22 May 2010 | Report This Post

Smith is more of a writer than a director, he did his early funny ones, Chasing Amy may have been his Annie Hall and now he's stuck. ... More

Posted by tt904 at 23:17, 19 May 2010 | Report This Post

RE: Better than this?!

L: silenttheo Sorry #000000]uheiberg but what have you ever done? Have you had the balls to go and max out a number of credit cards to make your dream come true, and in the process get your film sold, seen, and enjoyed by millions. No? didn't think so. He might not be to your taste, but you have got to admire the fact that he went out there and did it for himself. Just sayin! If you dont like his films don't watch them, it's that simple. And I'm not saying I have, but credit where cred... More

Posted by BOHEMIANBOB at 20:04, 18 May 2010 | Report This Post

RE: Better than this?!

Sorry #000000]uheiberg but what have you ever done? Have you had the balls to go and max out a number of credit cards to make your dream come true, and in the process get your film sold, seen, and enjoyed by millions. No? didn't think so. He might not be to your taste, but you have got to admire the fact that he went out there and did it for himself. Just sayin! If you dont like his films don't watch them, it's that simple. And I'm not saying I have, but credi... More

Posted by silenttheo at 18:38, 18 May 2010 | Report This Post

Better than this?!

"You’re so much better than this." you guys seriously need to get your lips out of these peoples' asses. robin hood 4 stars! give me a fuckin break. empire, you have absolutely no credibility left. and "Kev" Smith has never been good. clerks sucked, clerks 2 sucked, dogma sucked, chasing amy sucked, zack and miri sucked, his stupid cameo on dugrassi sucked. he suckes. horrible writer, not funny, an even worse director. ... More

Posted by uheiberg at 23:00, 17 May 2010 | Report This Post

RE: Cop Out

Fucking knew it. It had mediocre written all over it. ... More

Posted by Kazuya at 16:06, 17 May 2010 | Report This Post

One of the worst movie I've seen this year. Totally unfunny! ... More

Posted by ARmy2510 at 02:33, 17 May 2010 | Report This Post

CURRENT HIGHLIGHTS
		Empire's Great Gatsby Video Interviews Leonardo DiCaprio! Carey Mulligan! Tobey Maguire! Joel Edgerton! Baz Luhrmann!
		Cannes Film Festival Videblogisode #3 Featuring Justin Timberlake, Marion Cotillard, Clive Owen and Carey Mulligan!
		The Biggest Doctor Who Jaw-Droppers The Time Lord's biggest surprises over 50 years of TV
		Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch: A Beginner's Guide To The Avengers 2 Newcomers Your primer on the brother and sister joining the A-team
		Clint Mansell On Making Requiem For A Dream 'Darren had to edit at night because he could get access to the studio for free then.'
		Arrested Development Video Interviews Say hello to Jeffrey Tambor, David Cross, Tony Hale, Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat
		Empire's Favourite Music Moments From The Pixies to Burt Bacharach via Audioslave

Follow @empiremagazine