HUB Movie Review: Let’s Be Cops

posted November 13, 2014 in CommRadio by Sofia Westin

Just what the world needs: some unqualified, irresponsible cops. This movie ain’t giving pigs—I mean policemen, good press.

Ryan and Justin are two men down on their fortune. Ryan (Jake Johnson, New Girl) is the 30-year-old, no-good-for-nothing type of guy who failed to go pro in football after college. Justin (Damon Wayans Jr., New Girl) is a 30-year-old videogame designer at a company that belittles his game ideas. They came to Los Angeles to make it big by age 30, or go back to Ohio (they probably went to Ohio State…ew).

The tables start to turn after they attend a college reunion party dressed as cops (it was supposed to be masquerade themed…face-palm). Hitting the streets after the party, they realize people think they’re real cops. What do they do with this knowledge? Abuse it…naturally, mostly on Ryan’s part, while Justin is a little more reluctant. At least someone has (a few) ethical principles.

They get into deep waters after they get involved with the mobster Mossi’s (James D’Arcy) business. And when real cops think they’re cops. And when they buy a police car. It’s a spiral into trouble from here. Hilarity, action, suspense follow them.

The movie was quite unfavorable with the critics (big surprise!). Metacritic gave it a 30, and RottenTomatoes critics made it every rotten with 22 percent (top critics 12 percent...yikes!). However, 58 percent of audiences form RottenTomatoes liked it, and audiences from IMDb scored it at 6.7. That’s a good score considering this type of comedy. Movies like Let’s Be Cops usually see scores of five on IMDb. Hats off to you, sirs.

On the Penn State Scale...
1—when Penn State loses a game,
2—an 8 a.m class (which are awful),
3—a canceled 8 a.m class,
4—free books for a year,
and 5—free Creamery for a year,

Let’s Be Cops is a 2.5. You know when you see a comedy that goes too far with the ridiculous (aka, Dumb and Dumber), and instead of laughing you just shake your head…that’s this movie in a nutshell. It did have its laughs during several scenes, but then it was overwhelming with how far these guys took it and the amount of crazy (and nasty) scenarios they got themselves in.

I also thought it left some plot-holes open, like about Mossi’s undercover henchman. He seemed like a very big player in the movie, but he ends up being nothing of great importance. The focus was more on the heroes, and less on the villains, anyways. We never really got to see the bad guys in action. Justin and Ryan were told of his bad deeds…but then again, this is a comedy. We can’t expect too much gore and brutality.

Perhaps my low score for Let’s Be Cops may have been in part for disappointment. The trailer was awesome, but the movie as a whole was…meh.

Final words: it gives some good laughs, you may shake your head several times, but overall it’s entertaining for the length of its runtime.

Sofia Westin is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism and economics. To contact her, email sgw5090@psu.edu.