Kevin Smith is mostly known as the writer and director of the “View Askewniverse”, a world which slackers of all kinds talk dicks, Star Wars, dicks and comic books. He is a self proclaimed dialogue man, happy to leave the camera running as people speak his long monologues about various subjects dear to his heart. He also has had a habit of bashing his directorial style when he gets the opportunity, preferring to let his writing do the talking. He even opted out of a multi million dollar budgeted Green Hornet remake because he didn’t trust himself as a director. So the news of Cop Out might seem slightly odd given the facts. First, Kevin Smith did not write the script, he was given it purely to direct. Second, he has been handed an action comedy, which means that for all the jokes about penises, the camera at some points is still going to have to move to create some excitement. Cop Out was pretty maligned upon its release as being derivative, having boring action, and the kiss of death for an action comedy, not funny. Now being released on Blu Ray, with a load of extra features, it gets a second chance, but is it worth it?

Cop out follows New York City detectives Jimmy (Bruce Willis) and Paul (Tracey Morgan).  After failing to capture a gangster and causing all manner of havoc, they are suspended without pay. This is a particular problem for Jimmy, as he needs $48,000 to help pay for his daughters wedding, so he won’t be humiliated at the hands of Roy (Jason Lee), his ex wife’s slimy new husband. Jimmy decides to sell a rare baseball card in order to come up with the money, but at the shop is robbed of his gun and his card.  On their mission to get the card, Jimmy and Paul become embroiled in a much larger mission involving a memorabilia loving gangster (Guillermo Diaz) that can not only get them their card back, but also their jobs.

Cop Out bears a few of the Kevin Smith hallmarks, there are of course many jokes about male and female anatomy, scenes of two guys talking but also includes some fairly un Smith like things in the form of gun play, chase sequences and big set pieces. Smiths first foray into action film making is the best looking film he has made yet, but still falters amongst some of the staples of the buddy cop genre. A lot of the action feels static and there isn’t any particularly memorable action sequence to pick out. This would be fine if the film was a laugh riot, but sadly it is quite inconsistent there too. Most of the jokes are fairly uninspired and involve Tracey Morgan acting like a lunatic (just not as good as his role in 30 Rock) and Bruce Willis playing the straight man. That being said, Seann William Scott’s role as the smart ass parkour thief is golden, and leads to all of the film’s best comedic moments.

I did not particularly enjoy Cop Out on its first outing in the cinema, despite being a huge Kevin Smith fan. I do however, enjoy the Blu Ray greatly, and that is because Kevin Smith knows how to put a home video release together. The translation is top notch, as Smith would say you don’t really pay money to look at his films, but it looks very crisp in high def Blu Ray. But the special features are where it really shines. At first glance it may not seem like much, and a DVD release lacking a Smith commentary should be a crime, but descriptions can be deceiving, as the Maximum Comedy Mode is brilliant. Basically it works like a commentary except much more involved. Smith is on screen at all times, letting us know when we are moving from the film to deleted scenes and outtakes. When the option comes up you can also watch a variety of featurettes documenting the making of the film. Smith rides mostly solo for this adventure, dropping in bits of wisdom and making jokes. For brief moments he is joined by his production assistant, and for Seann William Scott is on hand occasionally. These interactions are always amusing, and it is interesting to watch all the footage Smith presents, as there is a lot of funny improvisational stuff on there. A lot of it is funnier than what ended up in the actual film, but was cut for time or a different take was used. These scenes can be watched separately but watching Maximum Comedy Mode in its entirety is highly recommended if you have a spare three hours to kill, it’s worth it.

Cop Out is not a film that would be easy to recommend seeing at the theatres. Simply put, it lacks the spark of Smith’s previous work, and the buddy cop genre has been done better many times over. It is very easy to recommend picking up the Blu Ray however, as Smith is a very funny guy that has chucked loads of extras in it to make it worth your while. Maximum Comedy Mode is tailor fitted to his sensibilities and works like a charm, elevating an ok film into a recommended Blu Ray release.