Cast: Burt Reynolds, Norman D. Golden 2d, Ruby Dee, Ray Sharkey
Director: Henry Winkler
Producer: Paul Maslansky
Screenplay: Arne Olsen
Cinematography: Bill Butler
Music: Alan Silvestri
U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures
Devon (Norman D. Golden 2d) is an 8-year old who idolizes the police. When he witnesses a murder, he goes to his heros with a deal: put him on the force for one day and he'll provide them with information to ID the killer. Although understandably reluctant at first, the cops eventually decide to allow Devon to ride with crusty veteran Nick McKenna (Burt Reynolds). McKenna is horrified at the thought -- he doesn't get along well with kids -- but his captain makes it clear that his only other choice is to give up his detective's badge and go back into uniform.
It's been a long time since there's been a good cop/buddy film. In fact, with each successive effort, the results get worse. Cop and a Half, a miserably inept comedy, will do nothing to reverse the trend. In fact, this movie is so bad that it comes perilously close to straying into the territory of one of the all- time worst of the genre, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.
With Burt Reynolds' recent track record at the box office, you have to be immediately suspicious about any movie he's in. He plays the straight man here -- a hardened cynic with a "bad marriage and a bad back", and, while he does an acceptable job at it, his character is too unpleasant. That might be okay for a drama, but it's disastrous for something this light-hearted.
Norman D. Golden 2d, who plays the kid, has a terminal case of cuteness. He runs around spouting one- liners and singing the "Star Spangled Banner" whenever he gets scared. Initially, it seems like he'll be a fresh presence, but that wears thin about halfway through. This movie (and its heavy-handed director, Henry "Fonzie" Winkler) is far too enamored with Devon.
Plots for comedies are frequently idiotic (witness John Cleese's masterpiece A Fish Called Wanda), but it's the duty of the filmmakers to draw the viewers into their lunatic world. Cop and a Half doesn't, and we're left watching a nonsensical story in which we can't help but identify flaw after flaw. Engrossing films don't have this problem; boring ones do.
The comedy is uneven at best. I laughed a couple of times, but those certainly weren't full-bellied guffaws. Only one scene sticks in my mind as being remotely-clever -- a sendup of Spartacus. This will go over the head of anyone who hasn't seen the Kurt Douglas classic (such as the numerous children in the audience). There are also a few attempts to steal from Home Alone, but that stuff is so old by now that it doesn't provoke even a smile.
Cop and a Half is an amalgamation of unfunny comedy, flat characters, and dull action sequences. There is a long, boring chase scene towards the end of the movie that could have -- and should have -- been cut altogether (except it would have rendered the running time of the film to around an anemic 1:15). It regurgitates the worst of the thousands of similar sequences that have gone before it. There's nothing new in this one, but then again, why change what's pretty much true of the entire movie?
© 1993 James Berardinelli