Let’s Be Cops review: not dumbass enough

Justin (Damon Wayans Jr) is a mild-mannered games developer who can't persuade his colleagues to take Patrol Man, his idea for a first-person peeler-inspired divertissement, seriously. His goofy BF Ryan (New Girl's Jake Johnson) is a former quarterback whose career ended with an ill-advised roof jump at a party. Together, they are losers who vowed to leave LA if they hadn't made it by 30, a deadline that has come and gone.

A college reunion only serves to reinforce the notion that they are the kind of ne’er-do-wells who turn up at a masked ball (huh?) in fancy dress. As LAPD to be precise. But wait. Ladeez suddenly want to dry hump them. Tough guys put their hands up on command. Hey, maybe these cop outfits, replete with bullet-proof vests, aren’t such a bad idea?

Ryan embraces the idea and soon pulls up in a newly purchased police cruiser. Justin is less keen until the uniform reels in Josie (Nina Dobrev), a longtime crush. Cue – in no particular order – All The Things You Expect, namely getting too much into character, solving real-life crimes, running afoul of Russian mobsters and angering real, corrupt cops.

Let's be fair. Let's Be Cops has a decent concept and sets the bar low with an early herpes gag before limboing right under it. However, despite some chemistry between Wayans and Johnson, this dumbass comedy is disappointingly low on, well, dumbass comedy. We'd say the best jokes are in the trailer but, in fact, the best jokes turn up in the closing outtakes reel, which hints at the funnier film this might have been.

Let’s not be cops, after all.