Let’s Be Cops on DVD

by: Alyssa Couball, Writing Intern

20th Century Fox

Let’s Be Cops raked in over $5 million dollars in DVD sales in the past week. And, according to TIME magazine, the movie ranks number 5 in the top 10 worst films of 2014. I would agree with them.

First of all, I love the Wayans brothers (editor's note: while we all think Wayans brothers when we see "Wayans," I don't think "the brothers" had anything to do with this movie). They have starred in some of the most laugh-out-loud comedies of all time, including of my all-time favorites, White Chicks. Damon Wayans Jr., who stars as Justin in the movie, fails to keep audiences wanting more. He should take more tips from his funnier family members.

The movie’s slogan reads “Fake Cops, Real Trouble.” The only real trouble with this movie is that it is all too familiar. It begins with two thirty-something losers having a midlife crisis. One night at a costume party, they dress up as LAPD officers. When they leave the party, they are astonished by the reactions people give them, and decide to keep the unplanned deception going. Once the shenanigans get to be too much, Justin tries to tell Ryan (Jake Johnson) that he’s taken it too far. I’ll stop there. Does this sound familiar? Two best buddies that are also awful cops . . . . They get into all sorts of crazy mischievousness. One friend tells the other he’s taking things too far. They fight.

The movie is a poor man’s 22 Jump Street. In this case, I hope there isn't a sequel in the works.

Eventually, (and obviously) they get caught in a web of real-life mobsters and dirty detectives. The two must put “their badges” and lives on the line.

Of course, most things in the movie would never happen in real-life. When a few elements of a movie are a little far-fetched no one cares--no one notices. But here, there were so many completely ludicrous things going on that . . . (editor’s note: she literally had no words). For example, there’s a scene where Ryan drives his newly renovated cop car over a football field. In the process, he almost runs over several young children. It’s one thing for the main characters to basically get away with posing as cops (so totally illegal); it’s a different world of suspended disbelief to watch kids almost steamrolled by a car.

Though Damon Wayans Jr. and Jake Johnson miss the mark, their acting counterpart, Keegan- Michael Key (Pupa), does not. In fact, his acting and comedy hits dead on. If only Wayans and Johnson had a clue—if only.

All that being said, the movie was quite entertaining. It lacks in the storyline and LOL departments. It’s rated R and runs about 104 minutes. It will not go down as a “classic” movie for sure, but if you're bored why not? Plus, I like the movie’s message. Sure, it’s meant to be a comedy. But the “flashing message” imparts that it’s never too late to do something you love.

Yes, by the end of the movie, one of them becomes an actual cop.