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The Guide: film: His fingers burnt by so many Wayans family travesties, John Patterson had low hopes for dumb-com Let's Be Cops. Actually, though, it's a hoot(Guardian (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) * My expectations for Let's Be Cops were at sub-basement level as I took my seat. All the signs were there: a super-high concept pitch (losers pretend to be cops!), which almost always guarantees a super-low brow movie (I cite this hideous precedent: "black guys gotta be White Chicks!"); the presence of at least one Wayans brother (although strictly speaking Damon Jr is a Wayans nephew, which just seems even more reach-me-down); and a trailer that gave every indication of featuring the nine best jokes in the whole movie, and very possibly the only nine jokes in the whole movie. I had it pegged as 22 Jump Street 2.0, which was itself 21 Jump Street 2.0, so the signs were not good. Things didn't improve in the movie house, either, at least not at first. It feels as if we're back at screenwriting class 101, with two leads - a failed ex-college football player Ryan (Jake Johnson) and his unassertive video game-designer best friend Justin (Wayans) - edging up to the year anniversary of their arrival in Los Angeles, the date by which, according to an old wager, they will move back to Ohio if they haven't made it. No matter, the merest sleight of hand puts them in cop outfits for a costume party, when suddenly Ryan notices the high status (to say nothing of the sexual authority and sheer pulling power) that a uniform confers on its wimpy, timorous and undeserving wearer. Ryan, being slightly insane, takes a swandive into impersonating an officer, buys an old black-and-white cop car on eBay, and persuades Justin, who's slightly too sane, to suit up, partner up and "light up those cherries!" before they hit the town to bust bad guys and score hot chicks. So far, so stupid. But I was wrong to peg Let's Be Cops down in the mire with the Scary Movie franchise. There is, in fact, some real comedy pedigree here. Jake Johnson, after all, is the accidental progenitor of Comedy Central's inspirational Drunk History, the co-star of New Girl (if that's your bag) and a horny, nightclubbing Jesus in A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. Wayans can be safely indemnified from the cinematic crimes of his kin, since he seems to have thrown in his lot with the next generation (he, too, is in New Girl). And the director, Luke Greenfield, made one of my favourite comedies of the noughties, The Girl Next Door. All of which puts a very different complexion on things. What saves the movie is the energy of the leads, especially Johnson, and the supporting cast, which includes Key from Key And Peele and The Daily Show's Rob Riggle. And nine jokes? Try 999 jokes, a good half of which hit their mark. And if one of them is a kick in the crotch, and another is a naked man's balls in the face, hey, who am I to complain? A dumb movie with more than its fair share of smarts: call me easy to please, but I can settle for that * Captions: Cop a load of this: Damon Wayans and Jake Johnson on the job (c) 2014 Guardian Newspapers Limited. |