"Cop Out" (opening February 26 throughout San Diego) was by far the most comically consistent film I’ve seen in 2010. The first three minutes kept the audience laughing throughout the entire film. I didn’t get very far into the movie before I realized that the raunchy comedy that opened the film would only continue to get better, and judging by the consistent laughter that remained until the last second of the film, the audience would strongly agree.
"Cop Out" is the story of two cops from the New York Police Department. Although there are many plots strands in the film, the main one deals with two suspended cops (Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan) that undertake a mission to obtain a mint condition baseball card that belonged to Jimmy (Bruce Willis). It was his only hope to be able to fund his daughter’s extravagant wedding and avoid looking like a deadbeat father.
In comparison to other comedy films I’ve seen this year and last, the humor here is unlike any other. The comedy style was appealing to me because it was all based around scenarios that could actually occur in everyday life. The film even started with a scene in which one of the characters used quotes from real films, and that gave the audience something to relate to. It didn’t sound scripted, and it felt like the characters matched the natural personalities of the actors. That is also what I admire about the two leading actors. When an actor can come off as themselves through the movie screen is when I feel that they know what they’re doing, and Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan did a very good job of that, as well as the rest of the cast.
My favorite scene is when we were first introduced to the real personality of petty crook Dave (Seann William Scott) in the car with Jimmy and Paul. I’ve been a fan of Seann William Scott and his role in the movie was definitely my favorite.
Overall, I see "Cop Out" being at the top of the charts for a while because of the many different elements that all audiences should be able to admire. Not only is it full of humor, action, and mystery, the thing I respect the most is the comedic icons chosen to play the lead roles. I really couldn’t change anything if I tried, and would need more than two thumbs to put up to acknowledge how great the scripting of this film is.
"Cop Out" is rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violence and brief sexuality.
--Jake Thomas McMillan is a high school senior. He's been playing instruments for concert and marching bands for nine years. He is managing editor and photographer for the El Trovador news paper staff. He plan to attend Riverside Community College for a year to learn Japanese and Italian while playing for their marching band. Afterwards he will be going into the Navy to work with photography and graphic design.
