MovieChat Forums > Cop Out (2010) Discussion > So nobody got that this was...

So nobody got that this was...

posted 15 years ago by cstephenson-1
112 replies | jump to latest

an 80's buddy cop movie? Smith made a straight 80's action comedy homage. From the Harold Faltermeyer score, the use of almost all 80's songs, the excessive profanity (like from 48hrs, Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, Tango & Cash) which we don't really get in action comedies anymore, the oafish, moronic rival cops (Pollack and Brody), and capped off with the ridiculously simple/overcomplicated plot (involving baseball cards, a USB drive, a daughter's wedding, and a potentially cheating wife), this was a GIANT 80's buddy cop movie. Take out the You Tube references, the cell phones and the USB stuff and this movie could have been made exactly as is and released in 1988 with Clint Eastwood in the Willis role and Damon Wayans in the Morgan slot. I think they even say the word "HOMAGE" like 10 times in the first 5 minutes.

COP OUT is a straight-up, no-holds-barred Kevin Smith 1980's buddy cop movie. Once that settled in, I was quite enjoying what it was trying to do. I can understand people not enjoying it, but I have to give Smith credit for being so original in making an intentionally derivative film. Look for more of this later this summer when The Expendables in completely misunderstood.

[–] Valorium 15 years ago

so you didn't get that it was a tongue-in-cheek homage to 80s buddy cop movies, you called it crap, then used a tired David Spade reference...or <everyone laugh at TNO>...homage...to Spade's Hollywood Minute, the only thing he's ever touched that wasn't crap. If you were smart, I would have thought you did that on purpose.

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Don't try to be a great man, just be a man. And let history make it's own judgements.

[–] a-koan 15 years ago

thank you ! yes ! EXACTLY !

the entire interrogation scene at the beginning extablishes the tone of the film - smith flat out TELLS us that this film is an homage, it's not suppposed to be original or modern - tracey spits out every cliche film quote they can think of in that scene just to hammer it into the audience..

i loved every minute of it.. right down to the jarring cuts between scenes that throw me straight back to every action film i loved in the late 80s..

and to anyone who has a problem with tracey morgan not being able to act, bruce's character essentially TELLS the audience not to expect this guy to be able to act right from the beginning..

---> a-ko <---

[–] Howlin Wolf 14 years ago

The master of playing 'not being able to act' is the one who CAN actually act, but fools you into thinking otherwise...

Tracey Morgan just can't act. Period.

This is where the magic happens... and by "magic", I mean nothing.

[–] givantha 15 years ago

Everything about this movie felt flat. Morgan and Willis both wasted here. They were suppose to make it funny but thats not the end result.

Smith has a very unusual sense of humor which works on his movies. I miss that. I think it would have been nicer if Richard Donner was asked to direct. The comedy works, given the chemistry of the characters and none of them actually had it except the scenes with Sean William Scott. Even the plot was messed up. There was not a point in the movie that I actually cared about anyone.

Also Willis is much better with playing loud mouth cop. He should've been given that part while Morgan played the straight cop/nervous cop. Another character I wished had more screen time with some jokes was Jason Lee. I know he could keep up with Willis . I think the idea was right but the execution was poor. I also hated Shutter Island and Green Zone for similar reasons.

Harold Faltermeyer is a good musician but his work is so out of tune it was like watching a bad video game. He was suppose to pay homage to the 80's not beat us over the head with a washed out score.

Enough with the Poop jokes. Seriously its more crude than funny now. At least this film didn't have un-flushed toilets like Nick and Norah's infinite playlist or Nobleson.

[–] brushfyr 15 years ago

While I understand this thread is less a discussion of the film and more
a flame war, I would like to ask the OP if he liked Epic Movie because it was
a homage to a bunch of movies that came out shortly before it? I mean, if someone defended that movie with saying "you dont understand, it was a tribute to Narnia, X-Men and Da Vinci Code!" would you have to reevaluate that movie?

I used to like Kevin but stopped around Jersey Girl. It was a bad movie.
Not Battlefield Earth bad, but still bad. Actually, it was a little embarassing around Jay and SIlent Bob Strike Back. While I enjoyed it I couldnt recommend it to people who werent familiar to his earlier work. It wasnt a good stand along movie.

[–] logan-duk-dong 15 years ago

Actually, it was a little embarassing around Jay and SIlent Bob Strike Back.

That's where he lost me. The only other film I've seen from Smith after Strike Back was Clerks II and I regret that decision. I've seen the original many times since my first viewing in '94 and I still find it just as funny as I did back then, but II just disgusts me. I don't even recall cracking a smile once. I remember thinking to myself that IMDb would absolutely slaughter the film... You can imagine my surprise when I dropped in, only to find it had a *high* 7 average (probably 8 at the time). I think it'll be a long while before I give him another chance, and I'm definitely not starting with Cop Out.

[–] DjfunkmasterG 15 years ago

I got what it was, I honestly felt like I was watching a bad version of Beverly Hills Cop (and I even consider BHC 3 better than Cop Out)

Something failed in the formula. I believe I heard it on Kevin's podcast that he said he let Tracy Morgan loose and kept Willis reigned in, to which I personally believe this was a mistake. Tracy was a little to over the top for this, or even for an 80's buddy cop flick.

I felt Cop Out to be a bit weak, but its cool it doesn't make me hate Kevin Smith, as I noted in another post everyone is allowed a Lemon or two in their career.

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"Deadlands 2: Trapped" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1103262/

[–] intexor 15 years ago

I got the 80's action buddy cop movie homage thing, but I thought the movie wasn't as clever or funny in exploiting the genre's clichés as I had hoped for.

About The Expendables being just as misunderstood in a couple of months, I doubt that. Stallone already proved he can deliver an 80's action movie homage with the latest Rambo.

[–] rrpostal 15 years ago

If you didn't get the "homage" thing, you must've been sleeping. Really, it wasn't exactly subtle. At least nobody has called it a "reboot" of buddy cop movies (yet).

But it was missing something. It seemed like all those movies but it was missing something from the genre instead of adding something. Actually it was like watching a TV version of an 80s buddy cop movie or something. I think it may be that there was never any weight or seriousness to anything, yet the guffaws simply weren't there to make up for it. Sure, looking back, it's hard to imagine Axel Foley was serious in any way or 48 Hours being anything but a comedy. But they both took themselves seriously. 48 Hours was actually pretty intense when I was young and the villain was very villainy. But this movie takes itself lightly and it translates into a very forgettable experience.

Someone mentioned laughing at the opening bit with Morgan chewing up movie quotes. I suppose if you really found that funny, the rest of the movie may have been good. I have nothing against Tracy Morgan other than his complete lack of any range. He can definitely make me laugh. But that scene wasn't funny to me at all. Not even a little bit. So I guess that's where our opinions split and then the gap only gets wider. This just wasn't a very remarkable movie in any way at all.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] intexor 15 years ago

Someone mentioned laughing at the opening bit with Morgan chewing up movie quotes. I suppose if you really found that funny, the rest of the movie may have been good.

Yeah, I think that sums it up well. To me that was forced and not just because Tracy Morgan might be a limited actor. I actually think he's great in 30 Rock. But I think this movie fell short of delivering a good homage to its genre. I probably agree with rrpostal that this felt like some kind of TV version of a 80's buddy cop movie in some way. It doesn't feel like a homage, it just feels like a poor buddy cop movie.

[–] Ponzer 15 years ago

brushfyr wrote:

While I understand this thread is less a discussion of the film and more
a flame war, I would like to ask the OP if he liked Epic Movie because it was
a homage to a bunch of movies that came out shortly before it? I mean, if someone defended that movie with saying "you dont understand, it was a tribute to Narnia, X-Men and Da Vinci Code!" would you have to reevaluate that movie?

^^^THAT.

The only thing that saved this movie was Stiflers performance. The rest was just pretty stale. Not terrible, but not good either. I doesn't matter if you want to excuse it's short comings as an homage, it still not a good movie. It's not a good movie by itself(like other homage movies like Kill Bill, Indiana Jones etc), and it's not either an inventive smart homage(like Scream, Kung Pow etc).
It's mainly just reusing lame parts from other 80s movies and says "look, it's an homage, how clever is that?".

[–] pdxwill 15 years ago

Yes, everyone is too dumb to get what the movie was trying to do, and you are the one smart guy who got it... or MAYBE, we all get what it was trying to do, but still see that it FAILED miserably.

"Bad Artists Imitate. Great Artists Steal." ~Pablo Picasso

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] fooseball 15 years ago

Nobody expects any comedy to be of Oscar calibre.......they just expect it to be funny.

[–] leemct1969 15 years ago

But who decides what's funny.Maybe that's the beauty of comedy,that not everybody will find it funny.An example:

Q:What's the difference between a pussy and a fridge?

A:A fridge doesn't fart when you pull the meat out

A rather old but very funny joke IMO..But does everybody agree?

Also i thought the movie was ok.Dont waste your hard earned on a cinema ticket
but a dvd release could happily kill 90 minutes or so

[–] Ponzer 15 years ago

It's not really that much of a philosophical debate whether a movie is funny or not. It's up to each and one. But most people didn't find Cop Out funny, as most people didn't find Epic Movie funny.

I'm not saying that Cop Out was as bad as Epic Movie, Cop Out had it's moment(especially the ones with Sean William Scott IMHO). But as a comedy, it wasn't really that funny. Homage or not homage.