Let's Be Cops (2014), R, ★

Johnson and Wayans Jr. laughing, but are we?

Is it breaking the law when civilians are impersonating police officers? Yes, in reality. But, not in the world of Hollywood. If executives in Hollywood would want to create a buddy-cop comedy, now, they have to depend on talent and most importantly, the screenplay. For example, The Naked Gun movies and 21 and 22 Jump Street had brilliantly executed films that had jokes and talent almost in every scene. The Other Guys is sort an underrated comedy that also had jokes that brought laugh-out-loud moments. However, this latest film of this hit-or-miss genre is an embarrassment to the genre and does not emphasize the humor or connection between the two characters at all.

Ryan (Jake Johnson) and Justin (Damon Wayans Jr.) are living in L.A., depressed and call themselves losers as Ryan is unemployed and Justin is unhappy with his job as a video game developer's assistant. Justin also has a crush on a waitress, Josie (Nina Dobrev), but, he is timid to conversationalize with her. The movie does not really take off as they both get embarrassed repeatedly scene after scene after scene.

After all those mishaps and bad luck, Justin and Ryan dress as LAPD cops for a Halloween party. It is not a normal costumed Halloween party, but, a black-tie masquerade ball. Assuming it is a reunion with some Ohio friends, they show Ryan's football highlights on television and his friends ask what happened. He tells them that it was an injury and that he has been in a commercial one time, a herpes commercial.

While they are embarrassed again and dressed up as LAPD cops, women kiss at them and they think that they are real cops. So, they do their duty as actual cops such as catching weed smokers and smoking with them and catching two men who crashed into Ryan's car and they stupidly let them go because the men are part of a little group of Mossi Kasic's (James D'Arcy) men. He wants to know who they are and they will get in trouble. However, on the upside, Josie asks Justin out on a date. Ugh!

Why are these "cops" terrified? Oh, maybe, because they're not cops.

This is a one-joke film that is ludicrously inert and horridly stupid. It is repetitive, the material is thin, and there's just no premise. It is just two people pretending to be cops and make a reputation for themselves as they are focusing on a case. Then what? The jokes fall flat, except for maybe one gag that I will not bring up, and there's not enough material, just to clarify, to make a whole movie. It's enough material to make a skit, but I don't think it's good enough to make a 30-minute episode on TV, not even on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a cop show with Adam Samberg. Check it out.

Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. have chemistry but the material and dialogue does not back them up as they get embarrassed all the time or handle some nasty jokes or stupid events. Nina Dobrev is just wasted in her role. I don't know what Andy Garcia got himself to when he signed up to this movie as he plays the Detective.

I already voiced my criticisms earlier in this review, but, I was extremely let down by this cop-buddy picture because I was watching this trailer and I had hoped that it may be a little gem in this genre. But, this movie is just coal. It equals no excitement, terrible dialogue, no zaniness, and joyless scenes. Because of the one gag and somewhat potential chemistry between the two actors, it gets just a star. It's almost in Transformers territory, but it will have a special place in one of those lists in December and I don't think I'll check that worst-of-the-year list twice because I know it is one of the worst films of the year.

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