By CHRIS PUNTO & NATALIE SACKET
Columnists
Welcome back everyone to another year of school. You know what that means: classes, caffine, and for us; free-loading for free movies! Much like we pretened to be real movie critics, our pick this week is a movie about pretending to be real cops.
“Let’s Be Cops” (2014)
Chris’s take:
1 out of 5 detective shields
Hey everyone! You know what would be fun? Let’s take the show “New Girl,” take out almost everything that makes it funny, add the same “funny cop” thing they’ve been doing since “21 Jump Street” and make a move!
For those of you unfamiliar with “New Girl,” I’ll try to break this movie down further. Some whiny 30-something-year-olds are down on their luck, so they decide to dress up as cops and get into shenanigans that eventually lead them to duking it out with some drug dealers. See? Sounds like kind of like “21 Jump Street.”
I could never really get into this movie enough to make me laugh audibly. This doesn’t really come as a surprise to me. This summer has been a bit of a letdown as far as movies go. This movie was no exception. Did I inwardly chuckle? Occasionally. As far as the action goes, the whole “dumb guys getting shot at by drug dealers” thing has kind of lost its charm. The movie was filled with errors. When did he change clothes mid-scene? Why is that Jamaican guy speaking Spanish? Do you catch my drift yet?
Usually I’m very opinionated about bad movies, but I think this one has left me a bit numb. The only real great thing about this movie is that now it’s my turn to pick the movie. Thanks, Natalie.
Natalie’s take:
2 detective shields out of 5
Okay Chris, it’s been a while, but let’s be movie reviewers. Or at least pretend to be…
We decided to bring in the semester with a comedy. While all-around I would not consider it the funniest movie of all time, there were definitely several laughs. However, as much as I was looking forward to ““Let’s Be Cops”,” I must admit it was a bit of a letdown.
The movie follows the story of two men with self-esteem issues who decide they want to gain more respect. They do this by pretending to be cops. However, they end up out of their depth and in the midst of some serious criminal activity. This is a theme that has become overused lately. “21 Jump Street” and “22 Jump Street” far surpass “Let’s Be Cops” in terms of comedy.
I’m an avid fan of the show “New Girl,” so when I saw that costars of the show, Damon Wayans Jr. and Jake M. Johnson, were working together on a film, I was ecstatic. I figured costars who had been working together for almost five years would have great chemistry on-screen. This assumption wasn’t incorrect, as Wayans and Johnson work very well together. However, there was a breakdown with the rest of the film.
Many parts of “Let’s Be Cops” dragged. While there were occasional bits of humor, it wasn’t enough to keep me totally engaged. That being said, the action in the film was actually quite well-done. There were several moments of suspense where I actually felt on the edge of my seat.
While I’ve pointed out numerous negatives, “Let’s Be Cops” wasn’t a complete letdown. There were several moments where I busted out laughing and I was excited to see Johnson and Wayans together in a film. However, the chemistry and the occasional laugh simply wasn’t enough. To preface the movie, the filmmakers should have been aiming for “Let’s Be Funnier.”