Despite flaws, Smith’s ‘Cop Out’ still a worthwhile action comedy

After spending the last 15 years making talky, low-budget comedies like "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy," director Kevin Smith has entered the action-comedy arena with his new film, "Cop Out."

The film marks the first time Smith has directed another writer's script as well as the first time he has had a film produced by a major studio instead of long-time collaborator Scott Mosier.

While there weren't many nice things said about "Cop Out" by many critics, the film was an enjoyable yet flawed homage to '80s films like "Lethal Weapon."

Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan star as NYPD cops Jimmy and Paul, respectively, who are suspended after their reckless police work jeopardizes an ongoing investigation of New York City's drug dealers.

Unfortunately, Jimmy needs his paycheck so he can afford his daughter Ava's (Michelle Trachtenberg) expensive dream wedding, priced at nearly $50,000.

After his wife's new husband (frequent Smith collaborator Jason Lee) offers to put up the money and embarrasses him, Jimmy decides to sell a rare and valuable baseball card to help pay for the wedding.

At the same time, Paul is worried his wife Debbie (Rashida Jones) might be cheating on him with their neighbor – a suspicion clearly affecting his ability to focus on police work.

As Jimmy is about to sell his card to a collector, he's robbed by a childish thief, Dave (Sean William Scott), leading the cops into their own investigation.

After Jimmy and Paul discover Dave sold the card to a drug dealer with no real understanding of its worth, they soon discover they're going to have to go head-to-head with the leader of a Latin street gang, Poh Boy (Guillermo Diaz of "Half Baked" and Showtime's "Weeds"), to get the card back.

There were several laugh-out-loud moments in "Cop Out," which is more than can be said for a lot of movies going for the same style of humor.

However, "Cop Out" definitely has its flaws, a majority them stemming from a bloated and uneven script, cliched execution and some downright unsuccessful attempts at humor.

The subplot, for example, over Paul's marriage concerns amounts to some of the funniest moments but adds nothing to the narrative.

Smith also feels like he's treading the water a little bit too closely in his homages, which is referenced in the trailer-worthy scene where Morgan's interrogations are ludicrously pulled from classic movie quotes.

However, this scene feels hackneyed and isn't as entertaining as Smith's prior pop culture references, and his homage to the buddy-cop film pales in comparison to what Edgar Wright did with "Hot Fuzz."

What's most important to remember is Smith didn't write the script for "Cop Out," so it's hard to blame him for all of the flaws.

What is important is Smith still made an entertaining movie with Willis and Morgan, who are both clearly having a great time with the material.

The rest of the cast joins in on the fun, and Adam Brody and Kevin Pollak practically steal the show as a rival cop duo. While Scott is annoying at times, he has enough laughs to make his presence worthwhile.

On the other side, Diaz pops up in a typecasting of his "Weeds" character, and he's so over-the-top you can practically see the teeth marks he left on the set.

While many people are bashing it for it's shortcomings (which are definitely there), by the end of it all, "Cop Out" is just too much fun for me to knock down too far.

It's not high-art or even the best lowbrow comedy Smith has directed, but "Cop Out" is still more entertaining than the majority of mainstream comedies these days.

Grade: B-