New Girl actors Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. must really enjoy each other’s company. During the hiatus from their comedy series, the actors stuck together to shoot a new film titled Let’s Be Cops, for The Girl Next Door director Luke Greenfield.
Like a reversed 21 Jump Street, Let’s Be Cops tells the story of two friends, Ryan (Johnson) and Justin (Wayans Jr.), who dress up as police officers for a costume party. However, when the friends find out that their appearances as cops has its perks, they decide to continue the disguise and see how far it takes them. Predictably, they will end up dealing with real criminals and dangerous situations.
On paper, Let’s Be Cops seems like a one-joke movie that could succeed due to the chemistry of two solid comic actors. However, the red-band trailer leaves much to be desired. There are a couple of funny sight gags and a sharp reference to Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, but much of the humour seems overly broad and silly. It is also a shame that Johnson has such limited leading man appeal after his terrific turn in the little-seen mumblecore drama Drinking Buddies.
The comedy, out on August 13th, also stars two prominent faces from television shows that, like New Girl, are big hits with teens and young adults: The Vampire Diaries‘ Nina Dobrev and Keegan-Michael Key, of sketch comedy duo Key & Peele. With the limited appeal of the cast and a release date in the wake of potential comedy hits 22 Jump Street, Tammy and Sex Tape, Let’s Be Cops does not seem to stand a very good chance of being a late summer hit.
To be releasing this film in August, Fox must have either a lot of faith in the screenplay from Greenfield and co-writer Nicholas Thomas, or the niche following of New Girl, which is not one of the more popular shows on the air despite its post-Super Bowl appearance.
Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.
