Un flic et demi

Cop and A Half is not a materpiece. It isn't something remarkable or memorable, but there is a significant difference between a bad film and a masterpiece. Although not a terrific movie, Cop and A Half is an entertaining and good comedy, with some really funny moments. With great performances and an above-the-average production (it was produced by Imagine, Ron Howard's company), this is a fast and simple motion picture. Burt Reynolds is charming and excellent as Nick Mkenna, the solitary cop who turns out to be a better person in the end, by living the most exciting adventures with the kid Norman Golden Jr. (who is very funny and talented too!).Despite all said about Cop and A Half, despite the reviewers who claim that this is a stupid picture, rent Cop and A Half, because at the same time it isn't a terrific work, it is a good and simple comedy about friendship, forgiveness and love.

This is one of my childhood favorites! Yes, the plot is pathetic and unbelievable. Yes, the boy is no Dakota Fanning. But Cop and a Half is a very enjoyable movie for people between the ages of 4 and 10. I mean, this movie wasn't marketed towards art school graduate students. The situations are very light-hearted and the jokes corny enough for the young age demographic.

This is also a good movie if you enjoy making fun of B-movies (especially with your friends... and beer). There are numerous plot holes and the man-boy love undertones are hilariously disturbing.

Do not watch Cop and a Half if you are a cantankerous old geezer!

There's a whole host of movies that are so bad that they are worth watching purely for a laugh. There's even more that are not worth watching because they're boring as well as being bad.

And then there is this movie.

You know that feeling you get when a good friend of yours is embarrassing themselves in public? That's what watching this film is like -- and Burt Reynolds isn't a friend. It's just that this movie is so bad that he feels like one - the only thing recognizable and close to normal that you can clutch at desperately as you're riding this movie as it swirls around the bowl...

What's wrong with this film? In short: everything. A horrible conglomerate of ill-conceived and irresponsible ideas. I can just see the plot being sketched out:

"Let's have this kid witness a crime!" "Won't that be a bit scary?" "Ok then, we'll have the killer sing a song before he does it." "Yeah, and his dumb goons have got to like it even though it's bad." "Ok, but only if we can show someone getting kicked in the nuts a few times..."

I want these 97 minutes of my life back. No, I want them back, plus interest. The advent of DVD commentary tracks allow directors to walk viewers through their films. Perhaps the reverse should apply: directors of films like this should be forced to sit through a screening of their film while it's ridiculed by even the most amateur of film critics.

Cute little black kid wants to be a policeman. The diminuitive star, Norman Golden III is out to steal your heart while it feels like like the film-makers have stolen your wallet in the process.

This comes about a decade too late after the trend of cuddly black "child" stars Gary Coleman and Webster, who were both in their late 30's during their heyday. (I've always thought that a great idea for a TV show would be something called "Shrunken Miniature Black Man" cause apparently that's the way America wants to see them.) Anyway, back to this film...

It's basically Burt Reynolds co-starring with his toupee and trying to look put-upon by Golden. In actuality, over the course of the 90 minutes, actor Reynolds spends a lot of his on-screen time sweating profusely. It's actually kind of creepy.

Burt Reynolds has shown a subtle comic flair in films like "Sharky's Machine" and "Shamus" (or even in "Stick"), but his work here, in a broader kind of comedy, is joyless. The kid does show some spirit, but as a "buddy" team these two rarely click. The film was probably supposed, among other things, to satirize the most familiar cop-movie cliches, but it's one big cliche itself, and has a rather erratic tone. (*1/2)