Willis and Morgan play a pair of screwball NYC cops who find themselves suspended after botching an ongoing investigation. Willis needs to raise $50k to pay for his daughter's wedding, and decides to trade in a valuable baseball card to foot the bill for this lost income. When he goes to cash in the card, the shop gets robbed, and Willis and Morgan go on a wild good chase through all 5 boroughs to retrieve it, getting themselves mixed up with a Mexican drug lord, and a roof climbing petty burglar in the process.
Like all cop movies, we're asked to suspend reality when watching this movie, because, cops of course never need warrants, and they can shoot and kill bad guys with impunity, while never getting shot in return. This journey might be worth the trouble if the director (Kevin Smith, whose recent well-publicized Southwest Airlines gripe looks like a huge publicity stunt in retrospect) made things even remotely interesting, or gave Morgan an occasional funny line. Sure, Morgan's facial expressions and off-key riffs make for a laugh here or there, but this just ain't the right movie for him. As for Willis, it's sorta sad to see a once-proud movie star reduced to this sorta drivel. Throughout, her bears the facial expression and body language of a guy who has been sucked by his girlfriend into going to the mall to look for party dresses. It's clear he'd much rather be elsewhere, and so would we. He and Morgan have about as much chemistry as the 03'-04' Lakers. Which, for those of you who lack sports savvy, is not much at all.
But probably the oddest thing about this lousy, instantly forgettable (I'm struggling to recall enough about it to complete this review, and I just saw it last night!) flick is the soundtrack and score. Perhaps in nod to movies like Beverly Hills Cop, Smith backs to film with 80's techno-pop (think The Pointer Sisters' "Doin' The Neutron Dance") throughout, even during shootout sequences when such music makes absolutely no sense. This was purely intentional, and supposedly an homage to BHC and like-minded movies, but it's sorta stupid. I like Tracy Morgan just as much as the next 30 Rock fan, but he's no Eddie Murphy. There's no Axel Foley in this movie.
Final Verdict - This is the sort of movie Redbox was invented for. It ain't worth your $40 ($60 if you go to Mazza Gallerie, which you shouldn't), so just wait already. It'll be a rental soon enough. 2 Stars (Out Of 5)
Question: Have you seen Cop Out?!? What's your favorite Black/White buddy flick?
