5.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
A pair of buddies hatch a plan to impersonate police officer but soon find themselves way in over their heads.
Starring: Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr., Rob Riggle, Nina Dobrev, James D'ArcyComedy | 100% |
Action | 41% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
In most major jurisdictions, impersonating a police officer is at least a misdemeanor, and in many places, it’s an outright felony, greeted with considerable jail time and massive fines. While that aspect plays at least a tangential role in the often frenetic but too seldom actually funny comedy Let’s Be Cops, it’s conveniently shuttled off to the side until it’s trotted out in one of many too convenient plot machinations. It’s already a bit hard to completely like the film’s two central characters, 30-somethings actor Ryan (Jake Johnson) and videogame creator Justin (Damon Wayans, Jr.), two affable enough guys who haven’t just failed to grasp the brass ring of career success, but who have seemed to give up trying. Too old to be slackers in the traditional sense, the pair is about to give up on life in Los Angeles since it’s obvious that (to purloin a phrase about the Big Apple) they have not been able to “make it there”, and so ironically “anywhere” is going to have to suffice for their future endeavors. Already obvious sad sacks if not outright losers, the two are initially cowed by a bunch of toughs (who of course turn out to be part of the film’s crew of “bad guys”), and then stumble into the film’s main “premise” when they dress up as policemen for a party. Suddenly afforded a degree of respect and recognition that has evaded them for most of their “real” adult lives, the two wonder if assuming these faux identities might be the answer to their pre-midlife crises. It’s out of this at least potentially amusing setup that Let’s Be Cops takes off on its manic but completely shapeless course, content to let its actors mug incessantly instead of creating real characters, while ticking off predictable plot points like they’re menu items at the local mob controlled diner.
Let's Be Cops is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Shot digitally with Sony's CineAlta cameras, Let's Be Cops is decently sharp and well detailed, but rarely rises to the level where it really makes a strong impression. The image is expectedly sleek looking, especially in close-ups, where fine detail pops extremely well most of the time. But things can sometimes look surprisingly soft for a digitally shot feature, with midrange shots also suffering from anemic contrast. Colors are reasonably vivid, though the cops' uniforms have a tendency to look a bit oily at times.
Let's Be Cops is stuffed to the gills with source cues, and the use of tunes like "Rock Me Like a Hurricane" allow the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix to strut its stuff. While there are some requisite "action" sequence here that up the sonic ante, a lot of the film plays out in (relatively) restrained dialogue scenes, all of which are presented cleanly and clearly. Fidelity is excellent throughout this problem free track, and dynamic range is also very wide.
This "raunch-a-thon" probably has enough to recommend it to its target demographic, which seems to be younger (maybe teenage) males. There's a really unkempt feeling to most of this film, as if they were making it up on the spot as they went along, with an agreeable enough cast left to largely flounder. Yes, there are scattered laughs here, but they're surrounded by a lot of useless drivel. For those considering a purchase, technical merits are generally very good and the supplementary package is appealing.
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