Film Review: Let’s Be Cops
The buddy cop movie – a timeless institution that has given us some of the funniest gun-toting moments in cinema history – is about to be rewritten like never before in the latest movie to star hit-and-miss funnyman Damon Wayans, Jr.
Let’s Be Cops opens in the UK on 29th August, and by all accounts has managed to do the unthinkable by coming up with a genuinely different take on this most tried and tested of all sub-genres. The aforementioned Wayans, along with New Girl heartthrob Jake Johnson, are either the best or worst police officers imaginable, simply because they love having fun while on the job, but don’t actually enforce the law for a living.
In preparation for one hell of a party night, they run through the usual fancy dress outfits, none of which seem to really float their boat. Then they hit a brainwave in one of those “they just said the name of the film” lines, by looking each other square in the face and saying, well, “Let’s be cops!” Donning fake uniforms, initially with the intention of simply drinking and dancing at the aforementioned soiree, it’s only when a group of good-looking ladies eye them up in their outfits that they begin to realise just how realistic their attire seems.
From here things descend into borderline lunacy, as the pair decide it might be pretty cool to actually have a go at pretending to be cops. Cue stunned men staring in amazement as two uniformed officers share a spliff with them, and an eBay-ordered ex-patrol car that they spruce up to look brand new. Hitting the streets at high speed, with police scanner on, they soon find themselves increasingly tempted to respond to call-outs of the non-violent, non-scary, and potentially fun variety.
Needless to say, it’s hardly the most realistic idea for a comedy, although our main chaps do appreciate quite how much trouble they could get into if ever caught. Nevertheless, in terms of potentially amusing scenarios this kind of concept offers them in abundance, meaning that while your average Werner Herzog fan might find Let’s Be Cops a little below their benchmark for intelligent film-making, in this instance we implore them, and you, to just go with it and see what happens. Who knows, while it’s unlikely anyone will learn much from this, you might actually grow to like the experience. We certainly did.
