Director: Luke Greenfield
Writer: Luke Greenfield, Nicholas Thomas (Screenplay)
Starring: Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr, Rob Riggle, Nina Dobrev, James D’Arcy, Keegan-Michael Key, Andy Garcia
Plot: Two struggling pals dress as police officers for a costume party and become neighborhood sensations. But when these newly-minted “heroes” get tangled in a real life web of mobsters and dirty detectives, they must put their fake badges on the line.
Tagline – Fake Cops. Real Trouble.
Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Let’s Be Cops starts as two struggling young men, Ryan (Johnson) and Justin (Wayans Jr) start looking at their decision to move to LA as a mistake, with Justin’s video game not selling and Ryan never recovered from his football injury, they have both reached the stage in their lives, where they might give up and return home.
One night the pair dress up as cops for the night and find themselves gaining power they never once had, deciding to pretend to be cops every day, getting caught up in a battle against a local mobster Mossi (D’Arcy).
Thoughts on Let’s Be Cops
Characters & Performances – Ryan is a former football prospect that always pushed Justin into doing things he doesn’t like, getting overly involved in becoming a cop, taking it seriously even if it would end up getting the pair into more trouble, hiding his insecurities of not knowing what he wants from life. Jake Johnson does bring the hyperactive comedy to this role that is much needed against the calmer approach from Wayans Jr. Justin is the video game designer that has been trying to sell his game, but isn’t getting very far and is about to give up on his dream to return home. He is reluctant to get involved in fake cop role, but when he starts getting respect from more people including the woman he fancies, he sticks around, getting pushed into places he wouldn’t normally go near. Damon Wayans Jr gives us a great performance showing off his comedic skills. Segars is the real cop that the pair meet that likes how the pair work believing they are more important than they are. Rob Riggle does well in this comedy role, playing into the by the book officers. Mossi is the criminal mobster that is looking to intimidate people into giving him what he wants, as well as being just as deadly in a fight, not caring who stands in his way. James D’Arcy does make for a threatening villain, one that could easily be as deadly as he seems. Josie is the waitress with aspirations to become a make up artist and love interest for Justin, she helps with the missions, only she doesn’t know he isn’t really a cop. Nina Dobrev is good in her role, we could have seen more from her character, but she makes the most of what she gets.
Story – The story here follows two men that are starting to consider giving up their dreams as nothing has turned out the way they planned, the pair find themselves pretending to become cops in an attempt to have some fun, leading to them getting involved in an investigation against the biggest mobster in town. This is a fun action comedy that does get the meaning of friendship and chasing dreams together, while giving us an unlikely and criminal position a couple of friends find themselves in. it will prove that when the times comes, you will find your place and the fight is about waiting for that chance to come around to make you successful.
Themes – Let’s Be Cops is a funny action comedy, it will give you some genuine laughs with the chemistry between Johnson and Wayans Jr being perfect through the film, we might go down some weaker attempts at comedy, btu the film does try to cover as many different types throughout the whole film.
Let’s Be Cops is a laugh out loud comedy that shines because of the chemistry between Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr.