DVD Reviews

Cop Out (Rock Out with your Glock Out Edition) – Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Jul 20, 2010, 15:06 GMT

Officers Jimmy Monroe and Paul Hodges have their weapons drawn on a gun-wielding killer. They agree to shoot on three. But, wait, does that mean 1…2…shoot or 1…2…3…then shoot? Punches hit hard and laughs hit harder (or is it the other way ’round?) when action star Bruce Willis and ace comic Tracy Morgan pair as bickering-but-got-your-back Brooklyn buddy cops. Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) directs the gritty, goofball goings-on as ...more

Kevin Smith’s latest effort may not be up to snuff, but the Blu-ray edition provides a fantastic special feature that will have fans clamoring to pick it up.

It may be that the film has the director under different circumstances than usual, some annoying performances, or a too familiar buddy comedy plot.

Jimmy (Bruce Willis) and Paul (Tracy Morgan) are nine year partners on the NYPD. A botched stakeout gets both of them suspended without pay. This hurts Jimmy more since he’s looking for that pay to fund his daughter Ava’s (Michelle Trachtenberg) upcoming wedding.

Ava’s stepdad Roy (Jason Lee) offers to foot the bill, but Jimmy is determined to escape the humiliation of having Roy pay. Paul is also having some troubles of his own since he thinks that his wife Debbie (Rashida Jones) is cheating on him. To come up with the money, Jimmy plans on selling his ultra-rare Andy Pafko baseball card.

However, when taking the valuable card to the dealer for appraisal he is tasered by Dave (Seann William Scott) and the card stolen. After licking their wounds, Jimmy and Paul track Dave down and discover that he’s sold the card to drug dealer Poh Boy (Guillermo Diaz).

Poh Boy is pissed that his Mercedes has been stolen. He offers the detectives a deal, find the car and return it to him and he’ll trade them the card for the car. However, when they do find the car they discover Gabriela (Ana de la Reguera) in the trunk. Not to mention that detectives Hunsaker (Kevin Pollack) and Mangold (Adam Brody) found one of Paul’s guns at a shootout and think that he’s a dirty cop.

When the wife asked what Cop Out was about I told her that it was a buddy/action comedy. About fifteen minutes into the film I hear from across the room, "Is this supposed to be funny... because it isn't." Actually, I’d have to agree.

I’m not really a fan of either Tracy Morgan or Seann (two n’s) William Scott. I did get a chuckle from some of Bruce Willis’ antics, especially a bit involving Die Hard early in the show.

However, even that chuckle was amidst an unfunny, extended scene of Morgan going through a litany of other movie references. It takes a long time, or so it seemed, for the picture to get rolling after the “MacGuffin” of retrieving the stolen baseball card. It may be the fact that director Kevin Smith is a director for hire this time around.

Smith usually writes his films as well as directing. This time around he just directs and the script comes from Mark and Robb Cullen. It seems a script out of time as I could see it flying rather highly… in 1985 (of course, the cell phone store would feature some bulky technology).

I think your enjoyment of the film may fall on your tolerance for Morgan and William Scott. I kept finding myself wondering what the film would be like if Kevin Pollack was in Morgan’s spot. I guess that would’ve cancelled out the Nick Nolte/Eddie Murphy/48 Hours vibe they were going for, not that Morgan’s over-the-top performance wasn’t doing that anyway.

Smith and Morgan fans may well be willing to forgive and forget, but I couldn’t. On the other hand, the special features section will well make up for my problems with the film.

Cop Out is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1). Looking at the back of the case it seems special features are going to be sparse. Au contraire and in high definition, director Kevin Smith hosts “Maximum Movie Mode” as a “Maximum Comedy Mode” and I found it funnier and more appealing than the film.

It crams in Smith, deleted scenes, outtakes, making of’s, and stretches the film to around three hours. It’s a blast and a delight. Although some of the content is only accessible through this mode.

You can watch separately the 21 minutes of “Focus Points” featurettes and the 4 minutes of “Shit Bandit Wisdom” with William Scott offering in character wisdom. This one “maximum” special feature lives up to the name and I’d recommend the disc for it alone.

Cop Out wasn’t a movie that did much for me. I did watch the whole thing, thought it was at least well made, but it didn’t offer the laughs it promised. Your mileage may vary due to your enjoyment of some of the stars.

I will whole heartily recommend the disc for Smith’s maximum movie mode. It makes up for a so-so film, so the higher rating is more for the special features than for the film itself.