Kevin Smith is a talented writer, but a less than stellar director. He's the first to admit it. So, it was a surprise when he signed on to helm an action-comedy starring Bruce Willis. What isn't a surprise is that he copped out. There's only three action scenes. One in the beginning with Willis and Tracy Morgan chasing a drug dealer. Another in the middle with the drug dealer chasing them. And a big shootout at the end. Smith needs to man up. First he turns down the Green Hornet, then he chickened out on a horror film titled Red State, and now this. Smith said that Cop Out was a tribute to `80s buddy cop movies. He even hired Harold Faltermeyer (Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Fletch, Tango & Cash) to do the score. Instead he delivered something in the same category as Police Academy.
Willis stars as Jimmy and Morgan as Paul. They are cops in the narcotics unit who get suspended with no pay for 30 days as a result of a major screw-up. Jimmy doesn't mind the suspension, but hates not getting a paycheck since he needs the money to pay for his daughter's wedding. Out of desperation he decides to sell a baseball card that's worth $80,000. His daughter's wedding costs $48,000. Did she really expect him to pay that bill on a cop's salary? No. She's counting on her rich step-father, played by 39-year-old actor Jason Lee, but Jimmy has too much pride. While in the process of selling his card he is robbed by Seann William Scott. You're still with me? Okay. So, afterwards, Jimmy goes looking for Scott's character and when he finds him he demands to know what happened to his baseball card. He is informed that it was sold to a drug dealer. The same drug dealer who got him suspended. What a coincidence.
Dumb plot and lack of action aside, it is a funny flick. It's not hilarious, but it is funny. Morgan has his moments, but the real highlight is Scott. Then again, Scott has been a scene stealer since American Pie. You can never go wrong with Stifler. So, is it worth the price of admission? Nope. Not at all. It's not even worth a matinee price. But it is a rental or waiting till HBO premieres it a year from now.
