Cop Out

            Is it possible for a movie to be funny, yet extremely horrible at the same time?  You'd probably say "no", the two go hand in hand.  It has to be good to be funny, or vice-versa, it's not funny, so it's not good.  Well, meet the exception to the rule.  Cop Out is a horrible movie.  The plot is awful, and the dialogue is weak.  Somehow, though, the movie is so damn funny.  From the opening interrogation scene with Tracy Morgan reenacting a scene from The Color Purple, to the end with Seann William Scott in the morgue (yes, he dies and it's a guilty laugh), the movie consistently delivers on laughs. 

            The plot, as I said before, is practically non-existent.  After a failed drug bust, Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) and Paul Hodges(Tracy Morgan) are suspended from the force for 30 days without pay.  While this isn't an inherent problem for Paul, who has a wife (played by Rashida Jones) with a successful career, Jimmy needs the money to pay for his daughter's wedding.  Jimmy decides to sell a very rare baseball card, which sets off a chain of events that has them on the run from a local drug dealer, and protecting the wife/mistress of a murdered Mexican drug lord.

            There are also distracting side plots involving Paul's wife cheating on him, and the random appearance, and even more random death, of Seann William Scott, that don't really add anything to the movie.  The movie is carried by the jokes and gags, which are fairly solid considering what it's got to work with.  There's a decent amount of chemistry between Morgan and Willis which could have been explored a bit more and made the plot a little more solid.  As it is, the two characters have been partners for 9 years, but come across as though they've just been forced to work with each other. 

            One of my main gripes with the movie was Tracy Morgan's character.  I like Tracy Morgan.  I've always thought him to be an overlooked comedic talent.  He really excels when given the chance.  He doesn't disappoint here, but his character Paul Hodges is two brain cells short of being the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.  I couldn't fathom how a guy so inept and completely devoid of common sense could be a police officer, much less a detective.  My other problem, of sorts, with the movie was Jimmy and Paul running around, pretending to be cops, while suspended.  This doesn't seem to be a problem for them.  On duty, off duty - who cares, I'm a cop, dammit! 

            I went into Cop Out expecting a Kevin Smith fair.  Even though it's only directed by him, and written by Robb and Mark Cullen, I felt comfortable with his taste in comedies.  There are the obvious Smith touches, like the music for one.  Opening with the Beastie Boys, No Sleep Till Brooklyn, and the always favorite of Smith's Run DMC with King of Rock.  You can really feel his influence there.  On the other hand, the movie's score is weak and sounds like an 80's movie left over.  Imagine if you took the scores from Beverly Hills Cop and Fletch, took out the fun, and left only a weak synthie-pop-esque white noise.      

            I have a hard time recommending this movie because it is lacking in so many areas.  On the other hand, it delivers with a steady barrage of laughs that's hard to argue with.  I'll say this, watch it in the theater at your own risk.  Definitely see it on dvd.