‘Let’s Be Cops’ is a buddy cop, action, comedy film focusing on two men Ryan (Jake Johnson), and Justin (Damon Wayans Jr), who decide they want to be cops. They don’t, however, want to do it the proper way, so instead, they buy police costumes and even a police car online and pretend.
I remember watching this film when it came out in cinemas and thinking it was genuinely funny, although when I watched this film far more recently, I can’t say I felt the same. Maybe my sense of humour has changed in the years since this has been released? I say this because all the jokes that made me laugh out loud originally are no longer funny to me.
Other than the waterboarding scene, which remains amusing, the rest of the humour fell flat for me. It is as though the film is going for the lowest common denominator and can’t be bothered aspiring beyond that. It has great moments of comedy like the waterboarding scene and, Natasha Leggero as Annie is always funny: but overall these are only a few moments here and there, the film as a whole feels flat.
Johnson and Wayans are both serviceable, but never really go beyond that. I am a fan of Johnson’s style of comedy I liked him in ‘New Girl’, but his performance in this lacks any kind of heart; he is simply playing, a selfish asshole. Outside of Leggero the rest of the supporting cast is wasted they might be there to set up a Joke, or to be the object of desire for one of the characters, but nothing more than that. The film ‘Keanu’ with Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key does a similar thing to this film, but rather than fake police officers they fake being drug dealers; the key difference is that ‘Keanu’ does it well and explores the characters.
Maybe I have changed, but this film feels lazy to me. A zero effort comedy film that pales in comparison to other buddy cop films like ‘Rush Hour’ or, ‘Lethal Weapon’. The premise has promise and could be done well, look at Keanu, but it feels like everyone here is phoning it in.
Overall this film has moments very few and far between, but overall it is the definition of lazy and a missed opportunity; that I thought was funny when I was 16.
Pros.
Natasha Leggero.
It Has Some Comedic Moments.
Cons.
It Feels Lazy.
The Comedy Mostly Falls Flat.
It Feels Very Of Its Time.
2/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 