Let's Be Cops : Movie Review


Don't waste your time with this one. It strives for the same comic vibe as the Jump Street movies – two bungling fools entangled with law enforcement and crime – but comes up considerably short.

Johnson and Wayans Jr have energy to spare and definite comic chemistry – just watch them together on the TV series New Girl – but here they fail to charm. The former is a wannabe actor who coaches kids' football while the latter is a downtrodden game designer. They assume the role of policemen initially for for a lark after wearing the cop uniforms for Halloween. Soon after they are letting the respect and authority of the profession go to their heads, soon becoming embroiled with a nasty Russian mob headed by sadistic D'Arcy. Will the two become men at last in trying to foil the villains?

Though there are some scattered funny moments this formulaic, by-the numbers effort runs out of steam early on and ends up a most tiresome and predictable affair, dragging out its lame narrative with an impersonal attitude devoid of originality. It certainly moves at a fair clip to keep boredom at bay but the seen-it-all before feeling it evokes makes one long for something with genuine smarts and genuine laughs. No wonder Hollywood has been having a poor summer. Mediocre offerings such as this are hardly worthy of tempting an audience into the picture houses.

Author : Doug Cooper