Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Let's Be Cops (2014)

This is topic Let's Be Cops (2014) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-14-2014, 10:42 PM:

This is one of those movies that has a pretty good comedy premise that isn't exploited to its potential. There COULD have been a great funny story about two guys pretending to be cops and the zany antics they go through in order to avoid being "found out." Instead, this goes right off the rails and into the exact same territory occupied years ago by such movies as "48 Hrs" and more recently by "21/22 Jump Street" and "Ted" (but, far less funny this time).

The climactic shootout scene, in fact, feels lifted wholesale from one of the shootout scenes from "48 Hrs," where the good guy is totally in over his head, only to have the bad guy unexpectedly get shot by a minor character. The only problem is, a development like that is supposed to be a surprise, but in this movie you see it coming from a mile away. And giant plot holes -- such as, why are the real cops so freaking clueless throughout the whole story -- remain unfilled.

All of this could be forgiven if the proceedings were uproariously funny. But sadly, they're not. For a summer comedy, this movie is surprising low on laughs. The timing is bad, the execution is bad, and virtually all of the funny lines in the movie were in the trailers. Even the weaving of a "serious" story into the comedy is handled badly because the bad guys are so cartoonish, it's impossible to take them seriously. One "comedy" scene involving a naked fat guy goes on way longer than it takes to go from funny to disgusting.

It's too bad comedy filmmakers today have abandoned the idea of writing actual funny stories and situations. Grossout humor and bad language from kids (which pretty much stopped being funny after "The Bad News Bears) can only get you so far. In the case of this movie, not far enough to make this worth watching.

1 out of 5 stars from me. Easily the worst movie I've seen this year.

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 09-14-2014, 10:50 PM:

I missed this in theaters. Will probably rent it front redbox