“Let’s Be Cops” has one of the most basic, yet original, premises of the year: Two 30-year-old roommates, unsatisfied with their lives and careers, dress-up as cops for a costume party. But the outfits are so authentic-looking (complete with real hand-guns and badges) that everyone thinks they’re actually LAPD. They enjoy the power and attention that comes with “being” police officers, so Ryan, an unemployed former college football star and Justin, a low-level video game developer (played by “New Girl” stars Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans, Jr.) decide to keep their new identities and pretend to be cops in the real world. And, obviously, it doesn’t take long for them to get in over their heads.
This film had the potential to quickly turn into a typical over-the-top buddy-cop farce. While there are some outrageous moments (there have to be with a plot like this), co-writer/director Luke Greenfield (“Something Borrowed”) is able to take a clever idea, insert a lot of funny dialogue and wacky situations, and avoid overdoing it with cliches. The result is one of the summer’s standout comedies.
Of course not all of the material works, but Johnson and Wayans, Jr., who are in nearly every scene, keep the laughs coming. Their familiarity with each other shows, much like what we saw with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in this summer’s other “bromantic cop comedy”, “”22 Jump Street”. The sarcastic wise cracks flow freely. Rob Riggle, who also co-starred in “22 Jump Street”, plays a real LAPD officer here. His reliable mix of straight-man persona with perfectly-timed humor works yet again. The supporting cast also includes Nina Dobrev (“The Vampire Diaries”) as Justin’s love interest and “Key and Peele”‘s Keegan-Michael Key, who doesn’t venture too far outside familiar territory in his role. Even Andy Garcia shows-up halfway through as a crime boss.
“Let’s Be Cops” is rated R for plenty of adult language and references, plus drug use, brief nudity and violence. It’s appropriate for mid-teens and up. The script is rather predictable and there aren’t nearly as many funny moments in the more dramatic second half. But at the tail end of a summer that’s been filled with action sequels and blockbuster busts, a traditional comedy with more hits than misses is a welcome addition.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Let’s Be Cops” gets a B-.