Cop Out
Directed by Kevin Smith
Starring Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jason Lee, Seann William Scott, Adam Brody, Fred Armisen
Rated R
Release date: February 26, 2010

Cop out — an idiom meaning to avoid taking responsibility for an action or to avoid fulfilling a duty.

Kevin Smith has probably been guilty of “copping out” many times in his life. The question is, “Was the title of his latest film a self-fulfilling prophecy?”

I’m a huge Kevin Smith fan. I’ve seen all of his films, purchased every Evening With DVD, and salivate every time a new episode of his popular podcast (SModcast) is released. That being said I don’t think he’s without his flaws. As an actor/director he leaves much to be desired. On the flip side, as a writer/speaker he is tremendous.

Knowing this, I went into Cop Out with some reservations. This was the first film he’s directed that he hasn’t also written. It’s also the first time working without long-time collaborator/SModcast co-host/producer Scott Mosier and his presence seems to be the heart and soul of a Kevin Smith film. So it was an uphill battle from the start with this movie.

For those who are unaware, director and fanboy favorite Kevin Smith is a major fan of the sport of hockey, and that makes him even cooler than he already was.

After his upcoming movie Cop Out — the first movie that he did not also write and produce — comes and goes, it looks like his next film will be a hockey film called Hit Somebody.

While talking hockey with NHL.com recently, Smith revealed that he had found his leading man, named Buddy, and it will be Seann William Scott.

Not one person was happy when A Couple of Dicks — the first Kevin Smith directed movie that wasn’t also written by him — was forced to renovate itself with the new, family-friendly Cop Out title for marketing purposes. Smith was peppered from all angles, particularly on Twitter where he tries to answer as many fan questions as he can, and repeatedly clarified that it wasn’t up to him; it was up to Warner Brothers. He had been in an epic battle not too long ago when that movie’s backers wanted to drop the “porno” from his Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which he ended up (thankfully) winning.

While speaking to Entertainment Weekly recently, Smith explained the whole ordeal in great detail and laced with sharp expletives in true Kevin Smith fashion. Said expletives were censored in the original article, but I’ve gone ahead and uncensored them, because let’s face it: it’s a lot more fun that way. That means there is a tiny language NSFW warning on this one, kiddies.

Click on over to the other side to read some of the juicy bits we’ve included from the whole dirty thing.

The brand new first teaser trailer for Kevin Smith‘s Cop Out has been officially released on Apple (head there for HD!). The movie is one with an interesting bunch of sub-plots that have nothing to do with the actual film. For starters: the movie was known for a long time as A Couple of Dicks; a title most people enjoyed, but which Warner Brothers dubbed too edgy, and had changed to the rather fitting Cop Out. Secondly: this is the first movie that Smith did not write and produce as well. He was hired to simply direct the film, and that is all. Even though this took Smith away from his normal comfortable world, the hope is that with stars like Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan playing off of each other, a comedy success can be achieved.

I’m a big Kevin Smith fan and haven’t met a movie of his that I didn’t love yet…not one. And while we don’t yet know if Cop Out will end up playing really well or very badly, I must say it: you can definitely tell this flick wasn’t written by Smith just by viewing the trailer. Whether you love him like I do or despise his work, the Clerks, Dogma, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno writer/director/producer is known for his writing skills and tremendous attention to dialogue quality. That relentless and witty dialogue would appear to be completely vacant here, and that would be my first concern.