Cop Out (2010)

I'm generally a fan of Kevin Smith. I think like a lot of my generation (maybe mostly, the one before mine) we thought his movies were brilliant when we were in our late teens. I used to love him between the ages of 16 and 20. I remember strongly where I was the first times I saw Clerks (New years eve 1999, on FilmFour when it was a subscription channel), Chasing Amy on Sky Movies, Dogma at the UCI Cardiff, on Boxing Day. I finegelled my way across the US border, from Canada on holiday to see Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back when i was 17 because it was 18 in Canada. So like I say, a certified fan but i think apart from Clerks and Chasing Amy, hs movies are quite juvenile or more so than care to hold in high regard anymore. But I don't hate him or anything and I like to see whatever he's working on. The movie he made before Cop Out, Zack and Miri was pretty funny and good-enough but based on Clerks, this man was supposed to be the comic book fan-boy equivalent of Tarantino - they shared the same home at Miramax and both had the best line on pop culture shit-talking but i think he second guess his fans on the comic book stuff and naughty talk with Jay and Silent Bob and left out the drama and heart in Chasing Amy.
Anyway, when i heard he was making a big Bruce Willis cop comedy, i was sure that was a step forward for him in finding a broader audience and more recognition. I mean I think it's always interesting to see what small budget directors do when they work on that scale.
Of course what I didn't understand was that this was essentially a directing/work assignment for him and he had little to nothing to do with writing it. Now the thing is that despite being generally known for his raunchy comedy, he's not the greatest visionary director and i'm sure he'd defer to that too... so then there's nothing for him to contribute here other than pick up a cheque and spent time gaining experience of working in the studio system and as such it shows.
Apart from the NY state setting and 80's hip hop soundtrack, this could have been anybody's movie and it just reeks to me of a missed opportunity. A lot of people teared into Cop Out and Smith was just as vocal about the critics and I'm not interested in doing that but my biggest disappointments is obviously how seemingly removed Kevin Smith is from this movie and i know he is because it's boring and laugh-free and he almost can't be blamed for that.
I still think the guy can still write better than most Hollywood writers and believe that and if he was really interested in a mercenary endeavour, he should be writing films he's not directing not visa versa.
I am hopeful for his horror-thriller about the Westborough Baptist Church, Red State for later this year. It seems like the sort of meaty thing that would challenge him...

I watched Cop Out (2010) on BluRay, via LoveFilm.
My 2011 in Movies will return with Bad Teacher (2011)...