Mr. Movie | Creators of ‘Copshop’ should be behind bars
“Copshop” stars Frank Grillo as Teddy. He has the goods on a sophisticated criminal gang and is on the run from Bob, a hitman played by Gerard Butler of the “Olympus has Fallen,” “London has Fallen,” and “Angel has Fallen” trilogy.
Neither actor is known for oratorial skills. Action is their thing. Sadly, until the film’s climax, there is very little action. And what happens when you’re an action actor and you’re in an action movie? Pure, unadulterated boredom.
To avoid the hitman, Grillo’s (“The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” “The Purge: Election Year”) Teddy whacks a police deputy on the head and gets arrested. Seeing what happened to Teddy, Bob gets himself arrested, too.
They banter back and forth until the oddly out in the middle of nowhere, police department comes under assault from a hitman hired to do his own hit.
In the middle of the bickering and ensuing mayhem is a lady deputy done nicely by Alexis Louder (“The Tomorrow War”).
The most memorable thing about “Copshop” is the dialogue. It’s not snappy, nor is it clever, or, for the most part, even intelligent. Nope. What stands out is the F-bombs.
The plot distraction is from what little plot “Copshop’s” three writers manage to stick in between F-bomb blasts and other assaults on the English language.
Using foul language for the sake of using it is not creative writing. F-bombs just for the sake of making the movie seem more “real,” or to shock, or — worse — to fill space, is just not a good idea.
Quentin Tarantino can get away with stuff like that because he’s a brilliant writer and a great filmmaker. “Copshop” director, Joe Carnahan and co-writers, Mark Williams and first-time writer, Kurt McLeod, are not in Tarantino territory and cannot.
Carnahan co-wrote and directed “Narc” in 2002. It was a great film. The only thing of note that he’s done since is the awful movie version of the old TV show, “The A-Team.”
Williams is the real surprise here. He and McLeod came up with the story and McLeod did the first script and Carnahan doctored what he wrote. Williams created the amazing mini-TV series, “Ozark” and picked up a couple of Primetime Emmy nominations for that creation. So you know he and, if it comes down to it, Carnahan are capable of something much better than “Copshop.”
The movie is a boring mess and is totally unbelievable. Missing is that important sense of humor required for a viewer to suspend disbelief. This is especially critical when you have actors with the skill levels of Grillo and Butler. They both have the acting chops of a chunk of wood. Grillo and Butler are good at action but little else.
Though she does show promise, the jury still is out on Louder.
The only actor having any fun in “Copshop” is Toby Huss who plays the hitman hired to hit the hitman and Teddy. He is way over the top and has some really funny lines. Toss off a line, kill a cop. Throw out another one. Bang. Down goes another officer. And on it goes.
Huss (“Reno 911!”) taunts and flaunts and has a blast with the part. If Caranahan and his writing crew had given his co-stars fun lines and parts, “Copshop” might have been tolerable.
As it is, I recommend cast, crew, director, writers and all be arrested. A fitting sentence would be having to watch their own movie.
Rated R for extreme language, violence and mature themes. It’s playing at the AMC Classic Kennewick 12 and at the Fairchild Cinemas Pasco, Southgate 10 and Queensgate 12.
Rating: 1 out of 5
This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie | Creators of ‘Copshop’ should be behind bars."