Let's Be Cops (2014)
Directed by Luke Greenfield
Best pals Ryan and Justin are stalled in their respective careers -- a fact that is painfully driven home when they go to a college reunion. Dressed as police in the mistaken belief that they were to attend a costume party, Ryan and Justin find that the uniforms earn them much respect and attention. Although Justin is uncomfortable with the idea, Ryan decides to continue with the charade, putting them both in increasingly dangerous situations. When these newly-minted “heroes” get tangled in a real life web of mobsters and dirty detectives, they must put their fake badges on the line.
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19 films that influenced Let's Be Cops
What critics say influenced Let's Be Cops
It’s a simpler, more disposable item, a fitfully funny buddy vehicle for two New Girl stars in the vein of 1986’s Armed and Dangerous.
In New Girl actors Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr., meanwhile, it boasts an instantly winning double act that, at its best, recalls the lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry of Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon series.
There are wink-wink, nod-nod references to various dead-serious (and not so serious) cops-and-killers thrillers, including an inspired allusion to, of all things, “Reservoir Dogs.”
The spiritual brother of "Let's Be Cops," in a way, is stoner comedy "Pineapple Express," in which Seth Rogen and James Franco find themselves in over their heads and on the run from a villain who wants to do them harm.
Alas, this bid for the same back-to-school, box-office earnings as recent R-rated hits like We’re the Millers, Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder means that a film about the willful abuse of authority was hitting theatres last weekend, just as last week’s Ferguson, Mo., shitshow was capturing the nation’s attention.
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Oddly, this section reminded me of the thrilling sense of discovery Tobey Maguire enjoys in the first “Spider-Man” movie as he tests his abilities and pushes his boundaries post-spider bite.
The vibe they’re going for here is “Super Troopers”- a bunch of idiot policemen goofing off, in ways that are never violent and mostly harmless.
If you’re one of the two or three people who still pine for another “Police Academy” movie, “Let’s Be Cops” may be your cup of tea, even though the buddies played by Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans, Jr. are just pretend fuzz and not the real thing.
Police Academy, Hot Fuzz, and, of course, Beverly Hills Cop are all prime examples of what a cop comedy can do when it's on its game.
A far bigger problem plagues Let's Be Cops, and it's one that has plagued almost every cop comedy from the (admittedly terrific) Beverly Hills Cop to The Heat to Ride Along .
Police Academy, Hot Fuzz, and, of course, Beverly Hills Cop are all prime examples of what a cop comedy can do when it's on its game.
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Director/co-writer Luke Greenfield moves "Let's Be Cops" through several plot points of his superior "The Girl Next Door," thankfully never dipping anywhere near his zero-star "Something Borrowed."
The pair and director Luke Greenfield (“The Girl Next Door”) might be shooting for outrageous, but their aim seems handcuffed to the script, and the script just isn’t all that funny once you get beyond what’s been revealed in trailers.
Make no mistake, the story is dumb and vaguely reprehensible, but writer-director Luke Greenfield (“The Girl Next Door”) and his cast know this, making no excuses for any of the characters.
That director certainly isn’t Luke Greenfield, who acquits himself here with the same blandness and unfailing ability to miss the point (and the laugh) with which he directed The Girl Next Door ten years ago.
In 2004, the director offered up The Girl Next Door , a rebellious but raucous comedy that earned laughs with its silly situations and its wonderful characters.
From here, director Luke Greenfield (the underappreciated “The Girl Next Door,” the horrendous “Something Borrowed”), working from a script he co-wrote with Nicholas Thomas, operates in an extended mode of straining.
The crime subplot has derailed many a promising comedy; I wished, for instance, when sitting through Date Night that the movie would forget about its mobster storyline and just let Steve Carell and Tina Fey riff and improvise.
Neither of these dopes appears to have seen "21 Jump Street," "Date Night" or the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" episode in which the gang impersonates cops.