This was a weird and unexpected ride with moments of second thoughts and many good laughs. And while you still sense the underlying touch of the creator of the askewniverse Kevin Smith, you are also very much aware that this is not his stuff...
I will keep out details of the story in this one and just comment on the work from a more (admitted) subjective point of view.
I will not lie to you, if it comes to Kevin Smith, I am a fan-boy... ^^ I even follow him one twitter! But I do think that he deserves much more appreciation from the mainstream and the (artsy) intellectual audience, then he gets, which makes me feel a little obligated to step up for him... After all, I do really believe that he is one of the great contemporary movie makers; one that may not see the days his genius is recognized appropriately. There is a certain poignancy to his dialogs and a great timing in his sense of humor, which I find to be the reason, why even the lowest jokes can be funny, if done right - if done 'smithways' (< he'd love that term... 'cause it's also dirty...). As he admitted once, he is the only one in Hollywood, who would get away with a 8 foot poop-monster... and did.
But enough of admiration, in 'Cop Out', it does seem like Smith is trying to cover new grounds with action-shots and faster cuts - almost '80ies-Action-Style(*). And that, he also admitted in previous Q&As, is not his usual territory. He still did a good job and it may be more of a insider thing among fans to notice that. It does not get into the way of enjoying the movie at all and while it may seem to be a strange pace, it fits quite well.
It is hard to describe the acting. In some way the whole story seems to be very self-cynical. There are moments that are just too much for a realistic buddy-cop-comedy, but the overall tone was much to sincere to be a silly buddy-cop-comedy. And in that mix, it is hard to interpret certain performances and wonder sometimes whether it was intentionally goofy. But then again... there are prolonged scenes of clear silliness, that makes you wanna interpret the movie in a different way, more smithways (gonna make a trope out of this one)...
Another thing that threw me off more then once, was the music. I am not sure if that overly funky digital music deliberately sounded like that, to invoke memories of Beverly Hills Cop - maybe as a sort of humorous homage - or...
* It does seem to correlate very well with the attempted 80ies action style shots, but again feels as if it does not take itself too seriously.
One of the obvious things that make this film enjoyable, is the chemistry. It must have been a lot of fun for the people working on it (which is one of the things, I am most certain, Smith also has a talent for) and it reflects well on screen. It is lightheartedly funny. And while the smithways approach did change the pace you'd expect from this kind of movie, it added some very funny parts.
One star off for the music. Not because it did not work, but because it just - on a subjective level - distracted me a few times. And another one because I think Smith works better, if the material is at least partly his. I'd like to know how much he actually contributed to the script...
Conclusio:
You do not need to be a Smith-fan to enjoy this flick. The characters, which are often like caricatures of clichés, and the actors dynamics make this an enjoyable popcorn-movie; if you don't mind the occasional bump in pace, which it makes up for with many heartfelt moments of laughter and great dialog-bits.
I liked watching Smith stepping out of his comfort-zone and I look forward to more of those steps (I would have just the right idea for that one...), as long as he is more involved in the writing. And also nice to see Willis and Smith working together as they said they would and I hope they'll do it again...
I will keep out details of the story in this one and just comment on the work from a more (admitted) subjective point of view.
I will not lie to you, if it comes to Kevin Smith, I am a fan-boy... ^^ I even follow him one twitter! But I do think that he deserves much more appreciation from the mainstream and the (artsy) intellectual audience, then he gets, which makes me feel a little obligated to step up for him... After all, I do really believe that he is one of the great contemporary movie makers; one that may not see the days his genius is recognized appropriately. There is a certain poignancy to his dialogs and a great timing in his sense of humor, which I find to be the reason, why even the lowest jokes can be funny, if done right - if done 'smithways' (< he'd love that term... 'cause it's also dirty...). As he admitted once, he is the only one in Hollywood, who would get away with a 8 foot poop-monster... and did.
But enough of admiration, in 'Cop Out', it does seem like Smith is trying to cover new grounds with action-shots and faster cuts - almost '80ies-Action-Style(*). And that, he also admitted in previous Q&As, is not his usual territory. He still did a good job and it may be more of a insider thing among fans to notice that. It does not get into the way of enjoying the movie at all and while it may seem to be a strange pace, it fits quite well.
It is hard to describe the acting. In some way the whole story seems to be very self-cynical. There are moments that are just too much for a realistic buddy-cop-comedy, but the overall tone was much to sincere to be a silly buddy-cop-comedy. And in that mix, it is hard to interpret certain performances and wonder sometimes whether it was intentionally goofy. But then again... there are prolonged scenes of clear silliness, that makes you wanna interpret the movie in a different way, more smithways (gonna make a trope out of this one)...
Another thing that threw me off more then once, was the music. I am not sure if that overly funky digital music deliberately sounded like that, to invoke memories of Beverly Hills Cop - maybe as a sort of humorous homage - or...
* It does seem to correlate very well with the attempted 80ies action style shots, but again feels as if it does not take itself too seriously.
One of the obvious things that make this film enjoyable, is the chemistry. It must have been a lot of fun for the people working on it (which is one of the things, I am most certain, Smith also has a talent for) and it reflects well on screen. It is lightheartedly funny. And while the smithways approach did change the pace you'd expect from this kind of movie, it added some very funny parts.
One star off for the music. Not because it did not work, but because it just - on a subjective level - distracted me a few times. And another one because I think Smith works better, if the material is at least partly his. I'd like to know how much he actually contributed to the script...
Conclusio:
You do not need to be a Smith-fan to enjoy this flick. The characters, which are often like caricatures of clichés, and the actors dynamics make this an enjoyable popcorn-movie; if you don't mind the occasional bump in pace, which it makes up for with many heartfelt moments of laughter and great dialog-bits.
I liked watching Smith stepping out of his comfort-zone and I look forward to more of those steps (I would have just the right idea for that one...), as long as he is more involved in the writing. And also nice to see Willis and Smith working together as they said they would and I hope they'll do it again...
