Let’s Be Cops – Review by Frances Winston

Directed by: Luke Greenfield

Starring: Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans, Jr., Rob Riggle, Nina Dobrev

In cinemas August 27th

The cop-buddy movie has been done to death which is probably why director Greenfield decided to put a new spin on it here. They are not actually cops they are just pretending to be cops. It’s a premise that could have gone either way but unfortunately a convoluted plot and wasted opportunities drag this film down. Justin and Ryan (Wayans Jr. and Johnson) are long time buddies who just can’t seem to catch a break. When Justin pitches a video game about cops to the company he works for it is routinely rejected but it does mean that he has cop uniforms that he used in his presentation. Persuading Ryan that they should wear them to their college reunion the pair soon realise that they are being treated like normal cops and garnering respect. Buoyed by this Ryan buys a police cruiser and convinces Justin that they should take it out while wearing the uniforms. Although reluctant he knows that this could be the way into a relationship with a girl he likes so he goes along with it.

Unfortunately they are too convincing and they find themselves on a ride along with a real cop. Realising that what they are doing is serious they vow to stop. Unfortunately they have inadvertently found themselves caught up in a situation with Russian gangsters and are forced to go to their new cop friend Seager for help leading to a showdown where they will be forced to prove their mettle without any formal police training.

This starts out decently enough and many people will relate to their dejection and disappointment at not being where they want to be in life in the opening scenes. However the fish out of water/mistaken identity themes are done to death here. It is as if they don’t trust the audience to understand what is going on so they have to keep telling us.

Wayans Jr. and Johnson work really well together and are completely convincing as long time buddies but unfortunately the script doesn’t give them a chance to exercise their chemistry to its fullest. It is as if the writers thought the premise alone was humorous enough to carry them through and they therefore neglected to write much in the way of gags. This is incredibly cliché driven and although the two leads try their best even they can’t inject laughs where there are none. Indeed some of their best scenes together are the more dramatic ones where they are not struggling to make it funny.

Perhaps as co-writer director Greenfield was too close to the material to do it proper justice which is a real shame. This had the potential to be hilarious but instead it falls flat. That said if a director can exploit the chemistry of the two leads he could have a marvellous film on his hands and this is definitely the best thing about this movie.