I am a big fan of Kevin Smith, the writer/director of movies including Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Clerks II and Zack and Miri make a Porno to name a few. However while I like his films, what I really appreciate about Smith is his candid personality; the man talks about the inside workings of Hollywood in blunt and often hilarious detail via his twitter account, message board and weekly podcast. In fact I think that his podcast, cleverly titled SModcast after it's hosts Smith and his producing partner Scott Mosier might actually be the funniest thing the man has ever been a part of; they discuss anything from TV to the movie business to bizarre news stories to their respective personal lives, often while Smith is stoned, always with hysterical results.As a director, Smith is solid but nothing spectacular; as he fully admits, he is a writter first and foremost, and while he knows where to point the camera, his movies don't usually have that much visual flair. Cop Out is the first movie he has directed that he had no hand in writting. Should you be worried? Unfortunately, it looks like you should be.
I think my biggest concern with this film is that Tracy Morgan simply isn't funny; he's sometimes amusing on 30 Rock but quite frankly he has always been the worst thing about that show, and his character here looks irritating similar to the cartoonish buffoon he plays on TV. Bruce Willis on the other hand looks like he's phoning in his performance from halfway across the country. Quite frankly, none of the jokes in this trailer had me even mildly amused.
All that being said, I'll still definitely be going to go and see Cop Out. But until now I was not prepared for the possibility that I wouldn't like it. Consider my expecations significantly lowered.
Cop Out will be in theatres from February 25th 2010
