Let's Be Cops (2014)

A mix up of unpleasant and weird people, movie started good, seemed funny, but ended up regreting wasting 2 hours watching it, really needed better event sequencing, the black guy is really obnoxious and annoying, never seemed to be an all-round character.

Let's Be Cops was relatively a surprise summer hit released in August 2014, which is great considering the two leads are not A-list actors and are relatively unknowns. Having motivation from 2014's Ride Along as well as the Jump Street franchise, Let's Be Cops was most certainly green lit on the verge of those big films. The film is rated R which is a surprise considering Ride Along was rated PG-13, however in this film the rated is only due to several scenes of language. It could have been lowered to make it PG-13 but the studios allowed it with such a low budget- approximately $17 million. Let's Be Cops has a main plot, as well as several other subplots along the way. The film is quite entertaining and the two leads do have enough chemistry, but the problem with this film is most of the jokes. Unlike Ride Along and the Jump Street franchise, this film's writing is not clever as those and the laughs aren't brought upon in this film which is why the film isn't as good. Many forced jokes and gags include in this film. Although the film is predictable, it is quite a decent watch to wait until the end to see our heroes reach this goal and success.==================================================================== ====================================================================After a rewatch (08/20/17'), Let's Be Cops really isn't funny at all, and the comedy feels very forced and the type of cheesy comedy seen on television shows forced for laughs. The first half of the film is where the comedy is played, then the second half it gets more serious when the leads become in real trouble as targets. It's also quite boring and at a run time a little over 1 hour 40 minutes, it feels over 2 hours at some points. Of course films like this are always predictable, as we know they will win in the end and the leads will receive their goal. Overall, Let's Be Cops feels worse on a second viewing, and is not memorable and too interesting.

Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr play two losers who get fake LAPD cop uniforms for a fancy dress party and later get mistaken for real cops. They then continue to pretend to be real cops by learning police procedures via YouTube and buying police equipment on ebay. They hope to benefit from the perks of being real cops.Wayans an unsuccessful video game designer of a Grand Theft Auto variety but focusing on cops figures that the experience might help him with his game design.However they then get entangled with some Albanian crime gang and also crooked cops while all the time keep up the pretence.Johnson and Wayans make a good team but this is an unfunny script and a routine plot. There are a few chuckles but the film overstretched a one note joke.

"Let's Be Cops" isn't the first comedy to have the premise of someone impersonating a police officer - the comedy "Off Beat" did it way back in 1986. But this idea hasn't been done to death, so this movie definitely had some potential. While there are some funny moments here and there, the movie as a whole doesn't work. It gets off to a good start - it sets up the characters and their idea of impersonating cops in less than fifteen minutes. But then the movie slows down considerably and the thin story moves at a crawl - there was no need to have this movie run 104 or so minutes. Also, the tone seems kind of schizophrenic. On one hand it wants to be a goofy and outrageous comedy, but there are some dead serious (and violent) plot elements that don't mix with the side of the movie that's lighthearted. The two leads show some charm (especially Damon Wayans Jr.), but they are made to do a bunch of unlikable things that makes it hard to be sympathetic to their characters. The movie ends up being a real disappointment, especially since you can see the potential that was not realized.