Cop Out (R, 2010)

common sense media says

Crude Tracy Morgan comedy falls completely flat.


parents & educators say
  • 71% say language is an issue
  • 43% say violence is an issue

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this buddy cop comedy (starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan) is directed by Kevin Smith, who is infamous for pushing the limits of an R-rating. This movie is no exception. Both the movie's humor, language, and violence are pretty extreme. Not only are there so many swear words (F-bombs in particular) it's nearly impossible to count, but there are lots of explicit sexual jokes (about everything from positions to prison rape to infidelity), though no actual sex scenes. The violence isn't grisly, but there is a considerable body count and several gang-style executions.

Positive messages: Despite several underlying positive messages -- a strong theme of cooperation and teamwork, wives should be trusted, daughers will love fathers even if they can't pay for fancy weddings, and people should know better than to mess with police partners -- the violence, language, and immature behavior the police officers engage in makes getting a positive message out of this film difficult.
Positive role models: Between unrepentant drug dealers and criminals, a husband who doesn't trust his wife, and police partners who violate their suspension for a personal, financially motivated reason, the characters in this movie aren't exactly positive role models. Even the supporting characters are negative role models: the generous step-father character is a jerk, the wealthy robbery victim is a gun-toting materialistic woman, and the Russian doctor is willing to sacrifice his wife before his new Mercedes.
Violence: There's at least a dozen murders in this movie, several of which are brutal gangland executions. Others are the result of shoot-outs between criminals and cops. It's not bloody violence, like "Pulp Fiction" because the camera tends to pull away or focus on the killer, as opposed to the murder victims. There are two scenes of torture, in which a drug kingpin with a baseball bat hits balls into a victim's torso. In one scene a kid kicks a cop in the groin and the cop kicks the boy back.
Sex: Although there are no actual love scenes in the movie, there are many, often graphic, sexual references. For example: Dave makes jokes about several specific sexual positions that Paul's wife enjoys. He also makes jokes about anal rape and sex while temporarily in jail. Paul waggles his eyebrows at his wife and tells her he knows she married him because he's "orally fixated."  Debbie wears lingerie and pretends she's going to sleep with a man, in order to get back at Paul for placing a nanny-cam in their bedroom. Paul tells Jimmy about Bonobo chimpanzees and their sexual proclivities in the wild.
Language: Unsurprisingly, this is a veritable F-word-fest. It's fair to say that every conversation includes several F-bombs and its cousin, "motherf--ker." Other oft-said words include "p---y," "bitch," "a--hole," "dick," "s--t," "c--ksucker," and more. Occasional "goddamn" and "Jesus Christ" used as exclamations.
Consumerism: Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Adult characters drink at dinner and at a bar. The movie's central criminal is a drug dealer. There are many discussions about the drug trade, his connections, and his ambitions to rule the New York drug supply.

More on Cop Out

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about Jimmy and Paul's relationship. Are they good partners? How are they more loyal to each other than anyone else in their lives?
  • What about the violence? How do the violence and comedy relate to each other?
  • Is all of the swearing necessary? Does strong language make the dialogue funnier, or does it lose its impact, because it's used so often?
  • How do Kevin Smith and the screenwriters pay tribute to past cop comedies? How does this movie compare to others in the genre?

What's the story?

What's the story?
New York City police detectives Jimmy (Bruce Willis) and Paul (Tracy Morgan) have been partners for nine years, but a botched operation gets them unexpectedly suspended without pay. Jimmy, desperate for cash, decides to sell a prized baseball card he inherited from his father to pay for his daughter's dream wedding. Unfortunately for Jimmy, the priceless card ends up in the possession of a baseball-obsessed drug kingpin Po' Boy (Guillermo Diaz), who convinces the cops to return his stolen Mercedes in exchange for the card. When the duo recovers the car, they realize that it's not the Mercedes that Po' Boy wants, but the tied-up Mexican woman named Gabriela (Ana de la Reguera) in the trunk. As the baseball card takes a backseat to helping Gabriela, Jimmy and Paul fight off Po' Boy and his henchmen bent on killing them and kidnapping Gabriela.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

There are so many ways Kevin Smith's latest comedy disappoints, it's difficult to know where to begin. Clearly this is an homage (or "hoe-midge" as Paul would say) to classic cop buddy comedies like 48 Hours and Lethal Weapon. But as with on-screen lovers, the odd-couple effect among the "buddies" has to crackle with comedic chemistry for these types of movies to work. In COP OUT, Willis and Morgan don't exude a believable buddy appeal. Sure, Willis seems modestly amused by Morgan's antics, which include quoting dozens of films (even Die Hard, in a moment of wink-wink self-indulgence) as he interrogates a suspect, but that's about it.

The audience never grows to care about Jimmy's desire to pay for his sweet daughter's wedding or Paul's misguided and incessant jealousy over his wife's (Rashida Jones) harmless relationship with their neighbor. Diaz (best known for his work as a drug dealer on Showtime's Weeds) hams it up as the sandwich-monikered druglord, and supporting actors Kevin Pollack and Adam Brody are entertaining as fellow NYPD detectives who are trying to solve the rash of gang-related murders that trace back to Po' Boy. Their brief banter and quirky idiosyncrasies (one is a luxury boot aficionado, and the other tries to impress him with his own pair of fancy boots) make them far more compelling partners than Jimmy and Paul. Clerks and Chasing Amy fans beware, this is one of Smith's worst offerings, and that includes Jersey Girl.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: Warner Bros.
Director: Kevin Smith
Cast: Bruce Willis, Seann William Scott, Tracy Morgan
Genre: Action/Adventure
Run time: 110 minutes
Theatrical release: February 26, 2010
DVD release: July 19, 2010
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: pervasive language including sexual references, violence and brief sexuality
Watch our review

This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
 
 

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What parents & educators say

13
Based on 7 parent & educator reviews:
  • 71% say language is an issue
  • 43% say violence is an issue
  • 29% say sexual content is an issue

Most useful reviews by all members

The True Review
teen, 15 years old
 
Good for mature tweens - teens, just be aware!
Ok, so a week ago I went to see this movie with my Dad. We saw comercials for it and thought it would be bad. So we went to the movies, got our tickets went in and sat down. The movie started (SPOILER) at an interrogation scene. The one cop (Tracy Morgan) goes in to interrogate the criminal and uses very explicit language during it. This movie has over 100 F-bombs, so be careful. Sean William Scott plays a free running thug or something I forget, sorry, who constantly says strong and very innapropriate sexual remarks about Tracy Morgan's wife. I can't say any because it was pretty bad, but he was very funny. I think if your kid is 12-13 or up, this is an okay movie, well if they are mature. I hope this review was helpful and thanks for reading!


kid, 12 years old
 
14+
there is R rated stuff but PG13 is okay but that movies contains violence, language, commercialism, drugs, sad, and bad role models no good for children under 11 or 13.


teen, 14 years old
 
14+
there is R rated stuff but PG13 is okay but that movies contains violence, language, commercialism, drugs, sad, and bad role models no good for children under 11 or 13.


kid, 11 years old
 
14+
there is R rated stuff but PG13 is okay but that movies contains violence, language, commercialism, drugs, sad, and bad role models no good for children under 11 or 13.

 
Funny, violent buddy-cop comedy
This was a funny movie. It's nice to see Bruce Willis in a comedy because he's really funny. Tracy Morgan and Sean William Scott provide a nice supporting cast. Parents; There is a lot of harsh language, bloody violence, and some sexuality in the movie. Bottom Line: A fun movie for those looking to sit back, relax and enjoy something worth enjoying. Thanks for reading! - Movie Man

bradley4846
teen, 17 years old
 
this is one of the best movies ive seen this year. i saw it for free for my friends bday. it definatly is r rated tho. for language there is nonstop f-words, and there are a few other r rated words. there isnt much sexual things, but there is a few lines that involve it. There is a lot of gun fights (for violence), but not much blood). I wish that they kept what was the original name of the movie, but they changed it. Overall, surprisingly good

 
Hated the language - hated the plot - this is just one movie that never should have been made. It's bad enough that there are people in out society who think they do and do control the lives of many others, but to put that violent scenario in a movie and for major stars to agree to do it with children and families of their is just disgusting. Thihs is not to mention that you make some "real cops" seem stupid - is this a message we want to send or is this someone's feeble attempt to take advantage of putting out their own opinion of how law enforcement works?

hockeydude777
kid, 13 years old
 
my favorite comedy next to the hangover!!! Tracy Morgan is a comedy GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!

bluelego94
teen, 17 years old
 
Okay for Mature and Older Teens
It was pretty funny, it had a good story and the chasing scenes were cool. Yet sometimes they take it to far with things. Almost ever 5 minutes you hear the F-word and all sorts of other words. It was an okay movie but some of the stuff in it wasnt the best.

D-Fresh
adult
 
What an awful movie. There were funny parts, but you can see all of them in the 3 or 4 different trailers out there... literally the best parts of the movie are shown in the trailers.

 
Cop Out earns a R rated for a good reason the violence is quite strong it all involves in gunfight's, shooting's, and gang execution style murder's although there are no actual sex scenes but expect a lot of sex jokes and inappropriate talk about how Paul gets laid and more also characters used constant strong language like crazy.

SerinitySerind ...
kid, 12 years old
 
horrible movie, horrible message
dont like gus that much , i just like halo. & f bombs, so over rated. lingerie, normal, you see it at jcpenneys (sad truth get over it). vodka & scotch are mentioned.

Pit bull loverr
kid, 12 years old
 
Greatest Tracy Morgan Movie EVER.
Saw it loved it. The dad is a cop who his girls wedding is coming soon and he doesn't have the money to pay it. So he tries to sell his fave baseball card but some guy robs it. So he risks his life to give his girl her wedding great great. But it does make me made because im a mexican>:| but over all a great tracy morgan great and best he ever did.

CoolGuy1
kid, 11 years old
 
Cop Out
All of it is about drugs.

slasher23
teen, 16 years old
 

elreader46
teen, 15 years old
 
good movie
Cop out was a laugh out loud movie perfect for the teen crowd. the language in the movie is REALLY bad, guns here and there, and drug dealings. The role models in the movie are good the dad, bruce willis, trys to get his stolen baseball card back so he could pay for his daughters wedding good:)

xalexand
parent of 18 year old
 
Great for Older kids
I wasn't real big on going to see this movie in theater but I have recently sat down and watched it with a couple friends and had a great time from all the comedy and laughter in the movie. I have watched this movie maybe three times in the last two weeks and loved it every single time. There are some sad and gloomy parts in the movie but besides that there is unlimited laughter. Tracey Morgan has always been a great actory when it comes to comedy but what really suprised me was how Bruce Willis was actually really funny, I am useto to him being in more serious action movies. Entertainment- this movie is really funny all the way through and had me laughing hours after the movie was over. Willis and Morgan did a great job with this movie. Characters- All the characters in this movie did a great jobing acting and making their characters as believible as possible. Melody- The melody of this was great it kept the supense rising at all times. The wardrobe and costumes were also well planned to make the movie potray modern day people. This movie will keep you in the edge of your seats and will have you laughing all throughout and after the movie is over. While watching this movie I remember thinking what is going to happen next? This film should not be watched by kids under the age of 16 because of some of the foul lanuage but will be enjoyed by everyone else.

zackaback
teen, 17 years old
 
Iffy For Some
Love It! Its Just Valguer Its Not That Bad.

Fenris
teen, 18 years old
 
It is so funny, i could not stop laughing at *Spolier* the part where he uses all these lines from other movies. The F word is common in this movie

iamseanpenn
teen, 17 years old
 
stupid. not funny
stupidest movie i have ever scene. they cussed every 2 seconds. Skip it. not even funny. there was literaly 1 funny scene.

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