Cop Out

Rating: *

There must have been reasons this film got made; just don’t go looking for one. Perhaps the thought of Bruce Willis playing another down-and-out cop appealed to someone,but he and his partner (motormouth Morgan) are not just down and out,they threaten our very understanding of “up” and “in”.

They manipulate,man-handle,torture suspects; take another along for a bizarre ride; blaze their way through streets shooting; get robbed; cursed at; and just pushed around by an equally embarrassing Mexican “drug lord” towards an end you may not sit through to watch.

In the middle,the film is splattered with crude language and gestures,including towards partner Paul’s (Morgan) wife,which Willis (given his senior status) acknowledges in good humour but doesn’t get his hands dirty with. In another scene,Paul describes at great length his toilet routine,including how it all floats and splatters before going flushing down.

The plot concerns the Mexican drug lord having got his hands on a rare baseball card that belongs to Jimmy (Willis),which the latter had planned to sell to finance his daughter’s wedding. Jimmy wants it back,but seems to be in no hurry,going about it slowly,down a path that puts him in the way of everything from the pretty mistress Gabriella to the dirty-talking 11-year-old child smuggler. And several,several dead bodies.

But hey,nothing complicated at all. Even Jimmy’s daughter puts in one touchy-feely scene and disappears,with nary a phone call to dear daddy before the big day. Who needs all that when you have Willis and a cocked gun,and when all you are putting together is a cop out?