On some level, you have to hand it to the sheer brass ballsiness of a piece of art exposing the lighter side of police abuse. Sure, we live in a time of extreme paranoia, chaos and a deep-seeded (and understandable) mistrust of law enforcement by certain, if not all, sectors of society – yet here’s a film that says, “see these jackasses getting away with misuse of authority, isn’t that hilarious?”
No. Well, that’s if I step outside movie mode and into political mode; it’s kind of disgusting. You know that phrase, “don’t try this at home?” I’d sooner some idiot tried any stunt he saw on youtube or “Tosh.0” before impersonating a police officer. The U.S. has enough trouble with actual corrupt policemen, thank you. And you don’t have to be on any side of a political spectrum to understand the awful of posing as an L.A. cop for personal profit. If this happened in real life, I’d want the offender prosecuted to the full extent the law provides.
Luckily, this is just a movie; I don’t have to identify with the protagonists, I can “enjoy” at arm’s length.
Ryan (Jake Johnson) and Justin (Damon Wayans Jr. … I’m sorry, there’s a Damon Wayans, Jr.? I’m not done panning the original) are losers. At least Justin has a job, I suppose. He’s a lackey at a company that makes computer games. In El Lay. Not San Jose. Not San Francisco. Not anywhere near the Bay Area, in fact. L.A. for your high-tech needs? Ok. I suppose that exists. Who needs Industrial Light and Magic when you’ve got ‘Magic’ Johnson, am I right? Justin has an idea for a cop video game simulation. To be honest, I think it’s a pretty crappy idea, and so does his boss, but his boss is a dick about it, so we feel bad for Justin.
Any idea at all, however, is better than his friend Ryan’s life. Once a college QB stud, Ryan is a slacker extraordinaire. He’s almost a savant. Living off the proceeds of a herpes commercial, he spends his time bullying sandlot kids. To be fair, this casting is pretty damn good. Nobody sells “I’m irresponsible” quite like Jake Johnson. I truly believe that guy has zero aspirations in life and is damn proud of it.
Ryan and Jake attend a local Purdue U. masque (Purdue has fancy masque balls for reunions? I’m almost jealous. I think I’d expect that of Duke or USC or Bennington or an Ivy, maybe, but Purdue? Whatevs) Ryan has misread the invite as a costume party and the two dress as cops and are quickly dismissed as the losers they are. But cop losers are still cops and the misperception almost immediately pays dividends. Af
ter dismissing themselves from the party, the two have loads of fun bossing random people around. Ah, the benefits of abuse of power.
Let’s Be Cops follows are fairly predictable formula: the two take it too far and get in over their heads. Soon shooting, mob, death, blah, blah, blah. Not sure exactly why the two aren’t deterred from this illusion when they get beaten up by three sorority girls and sat on by a giant naked man. You’re enjoying this, still? How low is your self-esteem exactly? I was a little embarrassed for the film that there weren’t greater consequences. Yeah, anybody can put on a cop uniform and act the part, but you kinda want experience if you have to deal with anything involving, say, humans. I did like this version better than Ride Along. There, Kevin Hart thought he was a policeman and wasn’t; here, the boys make no real pretense of being the actual police. When push comes to shove, they turn themselves in.
Let’s be fair to Let’s Be Cops: this is a terrible, terrible idea. Impersonating an officer is a terrible crime. And it should have led to terrible consequences; the fact it did not is terribly irresponsible. That said, the film isn’t terrible.
Two idiots indulge in L.A. Badge Factor
Brash pretending to get good react-er
Situations get mucky
Consider selves lucky
Nobody accused you of impersonating an actor
Rated R, 104 Minutes
D: Luke Greenfield
W: Luke Greenfield, Nicholas Thomas
Genre: Bad idea
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Slackers
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Real cops
