Cop Out

I don't usually write "reviews" primarily because I have a tendency towards hyperbole when discussing things I like/dislike. For example, you might hear me say that Sports Night is the best television show in the history of the universe and if there is television in other universes it is likely way better than anything they have to offer as well. Or, I might say that I hate all reality television but I especially hate the Bachelor (with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns) and that they are holding a special place in hell for the creators of such a vapid and loathsome waste of airwaves (not to be confused with the special place in hell being held for the network executives who decided to shift away from scripted television to avoid the ramifications of a writers strike with which, by comparison, the hell for reality TV creators will seem like a paradise). Usually I end up looking back on my grandiose statements and wondering if I might have overstate my case (though I stand by these examples, of course). Fan mail is, after all, unapologetically approbative. In fan mail you don't have to qualify your praise or explain your adoration. The difference (between fan mail and reviews) is that my purpose, the purpose of fan mail, is not to influence others.

I read a couple of reviews of Cop Out recently and interestingly found myself disagreeing with both of them despite the fact that one was pro Cop Out and the other decidedly anti.

I, for the record, am pro Cop Out, but unlike Lindy West I find it has value beyond it's jokes. Since it wasn't written by Kevin Smith I don't feel the immediate need to defend the story (which West calls garbage), but that just means that when I do defend it I won't be seen as biased because I'm a fan of Kevin Smith. The plot may be formulaic but anyone who's ever taken a screenwriting class (or any kind of creative writing class) can tell you that all plots are formulaic. Anyone who's ever seen a movie or TV show with me will tell you that I'm well known for blurting out plot "twists" well in advance of their revelation because I'm a all too well versed in the formulas of story telling. So, yes, there's a formula, but that doesn't make it less entertaining, that doesn't make it a sub-par story (and it certainly doesn't make it garbage).

It's not the writing though, or not just the writing, that makes it such compelling movie. The best thing about the film is that it simultaneously pokes fun at and pays homage to its genre. Everything from the score to the religious adherence to the buddy cop story formula lets you know that the people involved are both laughing at and with their predecessors. And that's the way it should be. I shy away from pure satire (things like Scary Movie, Dance Flick, Epic Movie, Not Another Teen Movie, etc) because it too often feels...almost cruel. You have to be good-natured about about it if you're going to make fun of something, and Cop Out gets that.

I loved it, and since this is fan mail and not a review I'm going to dispense with the explanations right now. I just loved it.