Let's Be Cops does exactly what it sets out to do. No more, no less. It was almost assuredly written very lazily. The original writer thought up the high concept, realized he could probably sell it in a pitch meeting rather than actually having words on paper, and roll from there. Then, the studios hired the most vanilla director in Hollywood (no, not Shawn Levy) in Luke Greenfield who's very good at writing white-ass movies. His track record is as follows: The Girl Next Door, Something Borrowed, and The Animal (yes, the one with Rob Schneider). So, he's never really busted on to the scene with something new and inventive and extraordinary. When you see a Luke Greenfield film, you know exactly what you're going to get: a high concept comedy executed to the laziest extent possible. Finally, take two comedic television actors on the rise, tell them that the script is more of a guideline and to do, basically, whatever the hell they want with it (thank God they did) and you've got a movie.
Let's Be Cops begins very lazily with our two buddies Ryan (Jake Johnson) and Justin (Damon Wayans Jr.) sitting in a cafe as Ryan poorly sings some Backstreet Boys. Then, we're immediately thrust into a very scripted "backstory" conversation. You know, the ones that begin with "hey man, how long have we been friends" and may also involve "why don't you just go talk to her?" and the eye rolling ensues. From there we learn that Justin is a lowly video game designer with an idea for a patrolman-themed video game that he fails to pitch to his boss. Ryan is doing... something... with football and kids and profanity. It's kinda funny. But, we get no character from it. Finally, they're invited to a "costume" party. Well, because Justin used props in his video game proposal, he apparently has REAL cop uniforms. No explanation as to how he got these, the two show up to what ends up being a masquerade party as cops. When they're finally and equally dejected by everyone at the party, they leave downtrodden and sullen about their current life situations. This is when they realize that people think they're cops, because why wouldn't they? They're wearing real uniforms. They begin having fun pretending to be cops, making people do what they say, getting into places they (probably) couldn't get into before, making criminals do... uh... dancing (it was a strange scene). Anyway, short story long, they end up pissing off the Russian (I think) mafia and make a few too many enemies, have to fight their way out, sort out their lives, realize what's important, solidify friendship and brotherhood, and get to a happy ending.
There is a cool little spin to the structure of the buddy cop genre in Let's Be Cops. Usually, you've got the gung-ho, trigger-happy rookie partnered with the tired, experienced veteran cop. In this, you've got a buddy cop movie... without cops. So, while Ryan is the gung-ho one-- learning cop signals and code, purchasing a cop car and lights, actually taking a legitimate case or two-- Justin is terrified of the ramifications of their actions knowing that it could mean getting them killed. So, there is a bit of the buddy cop dynamic spun in a new way, which was refreshing. The problem of the movie is that it was just a little bit too lazy. With a premise like this, the possibilities are endless. The big fun they have is smoking weed with some teenagers and getting into a sorority girl fight. That's about it. From there, it's just tracking down the Russians and getting in a little bit too deep. There is so much more fun that could've been had. This movie could've turned into a great action comedy, but it just didn't put in the effort needed to reach that level, nor did it seem to want to. It seemed entirely content with what it was: a spin on the buddy cop genre that will give you a good laugh or two and is so excessively vanilla that no one could be mad with the outcome.
It's true that there are some truly funny moments. There is one scene in particular that had the theater I was in rolling for a good while. And Johnson and Wayans Jr. have remarkable chemistry together. It's evident that their friendship extends offscreen. They almost remind you of Turk and JD in the earlier seasons of Scrubs. Even Natasha Leggero shows up in a couple of scenes and adds that extra umph to the humor. But, other than that, it's pretty blandly made. There's nothing inherently bad about the movie, it's just the wasted potential. When you know your kid has the brain capacity to get into Harvard but settles for a Cal State... you can't be mad... just disappointed. Like I said, Let's Be Cops succeeds in what it sets out to do: tell a story, make you laugh. No more, no less.
C
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