"Take That Off. That's a Uniform. You Have to Earn That."
The first thing you must recognize and accept about “Let’s be Cops” is that every person in it is a complete asshole. Once you do this, the rest of the viewing experience is smooth sailing.
I’m not going to call this movie comedy gold. The premise alone raises some eyebrows: two idiots decide that their lives will be better if they pretend to be police officers. Hilarity ensues. Impersonating a cop is probably one of the worst things you can do. If you’re doing so, it’s probably for the same reason these dillweeds had: for a small sense of power and respect, and the ability to break the law without anyone batting an eye. Except if you actually take it upon yourselves to do the job of a law enforcement officer, like these jerks DO, then you’re not only endangering yourself, you’re endangering everyone involved, including innocent people who are probably depending on you. Luckily for these buttmunches, the scrapes they find themselves in are usually pretty low stakes…until about halfway through the movie, when they jump up to the highest stakes imaginable.
So in order to enjoy this movie at all, you have to avoid thinking about real world consequences. Cool. Easy enough. Except the film seems to be self-aware enough that it POINTS OUT what the real world consequences of pretending to be a cop would be, at least on the level of what it would cost the guy awful enough to do such a thing. Hell, once the story reaches its climax, the film almost seems to be taking itself seriously. This, unfortunately, is a problem. If you’re going to make a movie with a ridiculous premise like this, the presentation has to be equally ridiculous. “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle”, a film that seems to be a huge inspiration for “Let’s be Cops,” works because the writers go balls-to-the-wall insane. Harold and Kumar get a cheetah high and then ride it through New Jersey. The craziest this film gets is when Damon Wayans Jr.’s character is crushed by a large naked perp (we get a clear shot of the perp’s nutsack. Yum).
This movie scrapes by because of the actors and their performances. Damon Wayans Jr is the only sympathetic person in the film (sort of), and he has several scenes where he’s allowed to show off his comedic chops AND his movement skills. A couple bit characters have some fun moments, too (props especially to Natasha Leggero’s cameo as the horny owner of the apartment the boys use for a stake-out). Ultimately though, the clumsy plotting and the failure to meet the premise head-on weigh this movie down. It could have become a cult classic otherwise. As it is, it’s pretty mediocre, not devoid of laughs, but not passionate enough to really cement a place in comedy history.
Except for the soundtrack, which sounds like it’s ripped from a sixteen-year old girl’s ipod. Backstreet Boys, Miley Cyrus AND Band of Horses? That’s everything you need, right there.
DRINK:
Beer, probably. They drink a lot of Bud in this movie. It's a good bet that any police officer would disapprove of a drinking game in general, so this might be a good sober game.
POSSIBLE RULES:
-Drink whenever one of the main characters breaks a law
-Drink when someone speaks in another language or a thick accent
-Drink for casual homophobia. It's funny sometimes. But it usually doesn't help this movie's case.
-Drink when Justin tries to shut down one of Ryan's ideas.
-Drink whenever they use police lingo
This review was written by Hollis Beck (Krissy Pappau). "Let's Be Cops" is produced by Genre Films and distributed by 20th Century Fox. This film is rated "R" with a run time of 104 minutes.
So in order to enjoy this movie at all, you have to avoid thinking about real world consequences. Cool. Easy enough. Except the film seems to be self-aware enough that it POINTS OUT what the real world consequences of pretending to be a cop would be, at least on the level of what it would cost the guy awful enough to do such a thing. Hell, once the story reaches its climax, the film almost seems to be taking itself seriously. This, unfortunately, is a problem. If you’re going to make a movie with a ridiculous premise like this, the presentation has to be equally ridiculous. “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle”, a film that seems to be a huge inspiration for “Let’s be Cops,” works because the writers go balls-to-the-wall insane. Harold and Kumar get a cheetah high and then ride it through New Jersey. The craziest this film gets is when Damon Wayans Jr.’s character is crushed by a large naked perp (we get a clear shot of the perp’s nutsack. Yum).
This movie scrapes by because of the actors and their performances. Damon Wayans Jr is the only sympathetic person in the film (sort of), and he has several scenes where he’s allowed to show off his comedic chops AND his movement skills. A couple bit characters have some fun moments, too (props especially to Natasha Leggero’s cameo as the horny owner of the apartment the boys use for a stake-out). Ultimately though, the clumsy plotting and the failure to meet the premise head-on weigh this movie down. It could have become a cult classic otherwise. As it is, it’s pretty mediocre, not devoid of laughs, but not passionate enough to really cement a place in comedy history.
Except for the soundtrack, which sounds like it’s ripped from a sixteen-year old girl’s ipod. Backstreet Boys, Miley Cyrus AND Band of Horses? That’s everything you need, right there.
DRINK:
Beer, probably. They drink a lot of Bud in this movie. It's a good bet that any police officer would disapprove of a drinking game in general, so this might be a good sober game.
POSSIBLE RULES:
-Drink whenever one of the main characters breaks a law
-Drink when someone speaks in another language or a thick accent
-Drink for casual homophobia. It's funny sometimes. But it usually doesn't help this movie's case.
-Drink when Justin tries to shut down one of Ryan's ideas.
-Drink whenever they use police lingo
This review was written by Hollis Beck (Krissy Pappau). "Let's Be Cops" is produced by Genre Films and distributed by 20th Century Fox. This film is rated "R" with a run time of 104 minutes.
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