Cop Out – Bruce is Too Old for This S**t

2021-08-20

Cop Out is a humorless retread of the buddy cop trope. Directed by Kevin Smith, though not written by him, it lacks the key ingredient to this tried and true formula—charismatic leads. Bruce Willis, as Jimmy, sleepwalks through the entire film. Tracy Morgan, as his partner Paul, tries dutifully to carry his lifeless husk across the finish line. But, alas, he cannot. No amount of improv or overacting can inject life into the flat script. More than likely, Willis' on-set tantrums and open disdain for Smith's direction played a role in

Cop Out is a humorless retread of the buddy cop trope. Directed by Kevin Smith, though not written by him, it lacks the key ingredient to this tried and true formula—charismatic leads.

Bruce Willis, as Jimmy, sleepwalks through the entire film. Tracy Morgan, as his partner Paul, tries dutifully to carry his lifeless husk across the finish line. But, alas, he cannot. No amount of improv or overacting can inject life into the flat script.

More than likely, Willis' on-set tantrums and open disdain for Smith's direction played a role in Cop Out's failures. He just didn't commit to the material, which forced Morgan to overcompensate.

It should come as no surprise then that critics and audiences hated it. It sits at 19% (163 reviews) and 39% with them respectively. And, like Andy Pafko did 477 times in his career, it struck out at the box office. It earned just $55.6 million on a budget of $40 million.

Yet, in the end, Cop Out's biggest sin is how negatively it affected Smith. The experience shook him, nearly causing him to abandon making movies all together. Thanks, Bruno.

Now sit back, pound several Summer Ales from Brooklyn Brewery, and stop spying on people with a nanny cam! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Chumpzilla, and Capt. Cash are on a stakeout dressed as cellphones!

This Week’s Segments:

Introduction/Plot Breakdown – Kevin Smith's shot at the big time lacks the laughs of his own scripts. (00:00)
Lingering Questions – What, if anything, could fix this film? (34:04)
The "Andy Pafko" Trivia Challenge – Chumpzilla challenges the field to a series of questions about the movie. (58:16)
Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We continue "Hops and Bruno Flops" with Hudson Hawk—the movie that once again graced us with the angelic pipes of Bruno! (1:10:04)

And, as always, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids—the on-set turmoil and more—from this week’s episode!

You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, Acast, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Vurbl, and Amazon Music!

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