Childhood friends Ryan (played by Jake Johnson) and Justin (played by Damon Wayans, Jr.) are living in Los Angeles, still trying to make it in their careers, despite the fact that they are 30 and haven’t had much success. They end up dressing up as policemen for a costume reunion party and though that was a bust, afterwards while walking the streets they realize the power they have as they get all types of attention and respect from civilians. Though Justin is reluctant to keep up the farce, Ryan can’t resist doing it again. Both learn the hard way the dangers that come with wearing a badge.
I’m always up for a good comedy, but in this case there wasn’t much there for me. I laughed very little. While I wasn’t expecting anything high brow, for the most part it felt like they were trying too hard to even pull off the slapstick parts successfully. By 20 minutes in I was already over it, but I was hoping it would get better.
Damon Williams, Jr. has been working a lot lately. You can definitely tell he studied his family’s material over the years, but for me he just isn’t as funny as the original generation. He was more bearable for me than Jake Johnson though. During certain moments he reminded me of a slightly less annoying Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Horrible Bosses) only because his voice isn’t as mousey. His antics were just as silly though. I have appreciation for physical comedy, but it has to be good.
The logic behind how they become cops and carry on for as long as they do with the is mind-numbing and I can only chalk that up to lazy writing. The bad guys are run-of-the-mill, but I did like to see James D’Arcy. He is a great actor with a lot of range and this film was no exception for him. Andy Garcia was okay, but after not seeing him in films for a while, it was a let down to see that this is the best he can get these days.
Rob Riggle lends his talents to this film, but I was expecting him to be funnier. It was nice to see Nina Dobrev branching out from The Vampire Diaries and doing other things, but her character wasn’t particularly interesting either. Elements that could have sold this movie ultimately don’t.
The movie picks up more toward the end where it takes a more serious turn. The final act was the most engaging part of the film for me, though that’s not saying much.
Overall, while it had a few decent scenes here and there, the bad definitely outweighs the good. I wouldn’t recommend spending the time on this unless you’re already a fan of the actors and their brand of humor. Perhaps it would have been better titled “Let’s Be Corny.”
Rating: 1.5 out of 5