Let’s Be Cops is a new comedy film which stars Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr., Rob Riggle and Nina Dobrev. Let’s Be Cops is directed by Luke Greenfield who some may know as the director of The Girl Next Door (2004). The film follows the story of two best friends who attend a masquerade party wrongly dressed as cops. It is when they leave the party and are mistaken for actual cops that the two friends then decide to just stay as cops because who wouldn’t?
When I first heard about this movie I wasn’t sure what to expect from it. But then I looked at the trailer and thought it looked pretty funny, but still for some reason I did not expect much from this movie. So I went in there not really knowing what I was in for but then found Let’s Be Cops to be quite hilarious.
It’s got a super simple premise and is super easy to follow, yet it holds up quite well. What I like about this movie is that the characters, while really stupid for most of the film had some actual depth to them. We get to slowly learn who they are. Ryan is played by Jake Johnson who some may know from the TV series New Girl (2011). Ryan is a character that is struggling and doesn’t really know who he is and doesn’t really have much respect from those around him, he also doesn’t know what to do with his life. While Justin who is played by Damon Wayans Jr. (also from New Girl), is dealing with some confidence issues and needs to learn to stand up for himself a bit more.
The acting from the two leads (Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr.) is quite good, although both are pretty much as they are in the New Girl, but that doesn’t really bother me though. They were both funny and Damon Wayans Jr. certainly did have some of the bigger laugh out loud moments during the film. Smaller role actors like Nina Dobrev who many probably know from her appearances in the The Vampire Diaries (2009). Nina Dobrev is quite entertaining and is a delight on screen as the love interest for Justin (Damon Wayans Jr.). Everyone else does alright but it’s a comedy film so most deliver when they need to here and there. Most of the focus is on the lead actors though, which is good as I didn’t really know who any of the other actors were. Apart from Andy Garcia, who had a short and small role but delivered.
In terms of the directing, it was quite good from Luke Greenfield. The films was paced well and the shift between comedy scenes and danger scenes when we were watching some crimes and fights were all pretty good. I did wonder a little bit towards the end though about how long this movie goes for because it felt I was in there for a while at some point in the final act. But maybe that’s more of a screenplay thing, overall though I enjoyed it more than I didn’t so I will have to say it was good.
Luke Greenfield also wrote most of the film as well as directing it and is said to have thought of the concept for Let’s Be Cops when his friend gave him an authentic policeman uniform for halloween. When he put it on he found he had gained some extra confidence and started building on the idea from then on (IMDB). I think it’s actually a good concept, it’s simple and it’s funny. I liked it.
The music is a bit all over the place with weird song choices at many points and while most of the jokes are pretty funny there are ones here and there that I didn’t get or thought were probably too stupid for the characters in the movie to actually still believe Ryan and Justin were actually cops. So not everything works, but I guess that’s how comedy is. But it balances out with some really funny parts, the funniest scene for me in this one was the shopping centre fiasco.
There’s not much else to say about the film, it’s surprisingly quite good and now that I’ve seen it I don’t know why I thought otherwise. Luke Greenfield has done well with his handling of the directing of the film and Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr., and Nina Dobrev all were entertaining to watch. I’d say it’s actually worth a trip to the cinema to see, especially if you’re in the mood for a comedy and as long as you just go in for a fun time, you’ll probably enjoy this. Let’s Be Cops has got some good laughs in there.
