Let's be Cops - Die Party Bullen

Don't be fooled by the sophomoric title which conjures up images of idiots pretending to be cops to pick up chicks, get free things and otherwise act like fools in uniform…wait, that is what happens in this film. Still don't be fooled by the title, the movie isn't so much face-palming as it is just mildly and reliably silly.

The movie stars Jake Johnson of New Girl (2011-2014) fame as a burned out former college sports prodigy who's currently unemployed and single in sunny Los Angeles. His roommate Damon Wayans Jr. is a video game designer who struggles to bring his ideas to life thanks to a petrifying fear of taking initiative. His new game pitch involves a Grand Theft Auto-type RPG boasting an authentic beat cop experience. So authentic in fact, that he borrows real police uniforms to place on his presentation mannequins. His boss doesn't go for it but at least the two can become a hit at a costume party, thus beginning a ruse that grabs the attention of the ladies, the criminals and the LAPD.

The film adds very little to the buddy cop genre save a realistic performance by Rob Riggle as a legit Police officer. The villains are serviceable in menace and acting ability while love interest Nina Dobrev of the ever popular Degrassi: The Next Generation (2006-2009) is breathtaking T&A. The notion of Dobrev's character aspiring to be a makeup artist and not an actress or model is about as silly as Fred Astaire aspiring to be a shoe-shiner. Try as they might the chemistry between the two leads is cordial but no where near the level of Murtaugh and Briggs, Cates and Hammond, Lee and Carter. At best they're Freebie and the Bean (1974) without the pretense of already being A-List stars.

But let's be real, this film isn't trying to be the next Rush Hour (1998), and yes that is the new marker of quality. It's a movie that tries to reassemble the old Blockbuster video crowd who rented Martin Lawrence's National Security (2003) and All About the Benjamins (2002) a hundred times because old habits die hard and The Marine (2006) was already rented out. While Johnson and Wayans Jr. may not have the established fan base of Martin Lawrence or Ice Cube, there's no denying the films refreshing lack of pretense and the actors' enthusiasm towards the one-trick pony screenplay.

Let's cut the BS, what it all comes down to in movies like this is can it make you laugh? The short answer is yes and not just scattered chuckles either. Is it worth a re-watch; probably not. There are some truly inspired moments many of which are provided by Keegan-Michael Key (If Key and Jordan Peele were cast as the hapless fake cops instead of Johnson and Wayans who knows how deliciously absurd this movie could have gotten). Yet the buddy-banter all feels recycled and the action sequences are mundane.

I tacitly approve even if Let's Be Cops appeared too late on the scene to be relevant. Those who are limitedly exposed to the clichés of boys-in-blue-type cinema will find something to like, especially when their parents aren't in the room. Those with more discerning taste might want to look the other way on this one, not because it's offensive, dumb or bad but because it's too little of anything.

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Good comedies are hard to do. Let's face it, we're bored with 'hangover II etc' and a comedy isn't funny if it just repeats previous comedies or if it is just banal humour.

Well, this film is neither intellectual nor cheesy. It has a really nice core story about these two great guys who have had very little success in life, but then they realise how powerful they are just by wearing police uniforms. The story seems simple, but the two main actors play it just right and it doesn't go over the top, but produces a really humorous film that kept be riveted. One of the best comedies I have seen, simply because it gets the balance right and is light, exciting, fun, has a little depth, and made me laugh despite my grumpy mood. Thoroughly recommended to everyone! No 'shocking'/rude comedy, simply excellent fun.

Let me just start by saying that this isn't an over the top blockbuster film like everyone seems to expect from every movie that comes out now. For some reason people have these attitudes towards movies that aren't packed with insane plot holes and story details wrapped up in a cgi blanket to attempt to blow your mind. This movie is really a funny movie, no matter what anyone says. My girlfriend was having a bad day and I was low on energy to try to entertain so we went to see this for a few laughs. It didn't disappoint. I didn't go in with high hopes that there would be any real reason to like it very much but it came around within the first few minutes of the movie. We both left feeling better and like it was worth it, (and I am an adult so the 'teenager type jokes' that one reviewer referred to are unfounded). Jake Johnson really sells the image of a guy just looking for any kind of change in his life and Damon Wayans Jr. is and actor that really puts a lot of work into whatever role he is in. I don't want to ruin any of the movie with bits and pieces that I enjoyed more than the others so I am leaving you with this. If you have a desire to get enjoyment from a film without becoming emotionally invested in a story that lasts 3 movies or longer with hints and clues popping up all over the place eluding to a next installment of whatever series, (and enjoy comedy of all types) then I would recommend this highly. Not artistic, not over done, not offensive to the degree some say, just straight up good comedy. Waaay better than the terrible Seth Rogen movie "the Neighbors". Hope this helps.

Everyone has played cops and robbers at some point. This is the most basic of imagination games a child could play not matter what part of the world or even time period they came from. It about the thrill of chasing the bad guy or being the bad guy and trying to evade the good guys. You could stage a robbery or stop a kidnapping, but this is something I could easily believe every one has done. But like most growing people, these games end as adults decide to start playing with something that truly interests them and make a career out of it.

But sometimes the cops and robbers game is fun enough that the adult wants this to become their life. They'll ask for information on what the next step is to becoming a real life officer. Either they'll be scared away from the complicated paperwork and academy, denied because of something they have or done, or they possess the will to go through with it and make it a career. But you occasionally hear about those bad apples that think its funny to impersonate an officer. Like the characters in Let's Be Cops, their most likely stupid and don't think about the consequences on the people they fool.

Justin (played by Damon Wayans, Jr.) and Ryan (played by Jake Johnson) are two best friends that have lived in Los Angeles hoping that their lives here would be better then in Ohio. This is not the case as Justin is a video game designer whose more of an assistant then a creative mind and Ryan is a bum friend whose football days are long behind him and living off of a commercial payday that has kept him stable. They head out to a college reunion as cops thinking it's a costume party. Not only is it a masquerade party instead, but they have a hard time fitting in with their more successful classmates.

Just as they decide they might go back to Ohio, they discover something on the city streets; people are giving them double takes, the tallest of men start to slouch and the hottest of women give them smiles. The two quickly realize that people think that their cops. Ryan wants to play around with this more, now getting the respect that he's wanted after college, though Justin is more of a weak coward whose more concerned with going to prison. The two eventually get good enough to deceive the L.A.P.D. and start doing detective work for a Russian mafia.

Every summer there's a movie that I'm gonna find is a surprise that I didn't expect; Let's Be Cops is the surprise. It was a movie I remember laughing at even though a lot of the gags were stupid, reminding me of something like Surf Ninjas. But…I kind of like Surf Ninjas. So why am I forgiving here and not of something like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that was full of dumb jokes?

First of all, the jokes feel like timeless jokes, as to say that they didn't rely on modern day or pop culture things that could be dated in a few years. Second, the characters are likable. Both Justin and Ryan feel like those recent college buddies that still need to find better interests, but they put so much passion in what their doing that you really want to see where they go with this. Third, I feel like that the movie is in on the whole joke of cop clichès and that most of the jokes, especially the jokes that aren't funny, are intentional.

I'll give this seven fake police badges out of ten. Let's Be Cops is that comedy that will become a hit on television through repeated viewings at midnight with teenagers and college students. I can't say it's for everyone, but this is something you need to turn off your logical brain to enjoy.

Ryan and Justin, both are at a point in life when nothing seems to be working. Ryan is a former college football star and seems he can't get a break in Hollywood. Justin is a video game designer and can't get his cop game off the ground. One day on their way to a costume party, they discover that dressing like cops give them the respect and attention they crave. This leads to a path to acting like cops and being part of the LA police force. All is fun in games until they cross a real life gangster and discover that being a cop is not as easy as in the movies. A funny movie and also amazing how Damon Wayans, Jr. looks and acts like his daddy. Funny and a good story, Let's be Cops is a peek inside the police world.