Let’s be white chicks! Wait, we already did that… okay let’s be cops!
Damon Wayans Jr. (from films including Dance Flick and The Other Guys) and Jake Johnson (from TV ‘s New Girl) team up as best buds and roomies, Justin and Ryan, pretending to be policeman, for a good old fashioned comedy caper.
These comedians play a couple of guys who have reached 30. An age, apparently, where you are supposed to have your shit together, and if you don’t, you’ve failed at life. The Australian equivalent would just buy an overpriced camera (with even more expensive lenses), sign up to a marathon or buy a bicycle. The American equivalent relishes in attending the college reunion party and boasts about how much they have achieved (measured in dollars). Justin and Ryan find themselves in that situation and realise that they haven’t made it. One had an injury that ruined his chances of playing pro football and the other is a mere assistant at a gaming design company, struggling to get his game idea noticed.
What you have seen in the trailer is basically the string of jokes that you’ll get in the first part of the film. They are cheap, sexist and racist. But this is to be expected, of course. In fact, if you want to get mathematical, Let’s Be Cops is a narrative that runs in three stages. The first is the sad and pathetic stage. These guys are useless and hopeless, and you ultimately feel nothing but depressed for them. You also spend a moment thinking about whether you are in that same situation.
Stage two commences when Justin and Ryan put on their cop costumes and inappropriately attend a masquerade party. What follows, when they realise that people (even actual cops) are mistaking them to be the real deal, is a string of very silly events. This complete stage can be summarised as silly, and may induce some giggles courtesy of the standard dick jokes. At this point you may be regretting handing over the hard coin for the movie ticket, but hang on.
Any cop-spoof-bromance-duo-buddy-film needs a villain. The bad dude who is quite frankly, serious as hell. This you will find in the form of Mossi (played by James D’Arcy), the leader of an Albanian crime ring, whose Albanian posse uncomfortably bump their vehicle into the two cop imposters’ bomb of a car, earlier in the film. Justin and Ryan attempt revenge as cop posers, but end up in a serious situation. Stage three, shit gets real. Here, in the final chapter of Let’s Be Cops, Justin and Ryan are walking the thin line between being actual cops and being in big, big trouble. It actually gets pretty intense here, there is a lot of fun shoot outs, a bit of blood, and a bit of a twist.
Ultimately, you get what you get with Let’s Be Cops. Because of the expectations, it really isn’t too bad. Between Wayan Jr.’s constant sexy dancing and Johnson’s infectious cheesy grin, you can’t help but think how adorable these two are.
Review Score: THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Let’s Be Cops is in Australian cinemas tomorrow, November 13th.
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