I went into Let’s Be Cops expecting a goofy R rated cop comedy and that’s exactly what I got. It doesn’t always live up to its fun premise though. With a great cast, but not enough actual laughs, Let’s Be Cops will leave you wishing you had been given more, or you had just watched 22 Jump Street again.

The plot of the film is simple, wacky, and fun. Lifetime friends and room mates Ryan (Jake Johnson) and Justin (Damon Wayons Jr.) wear cop uniforms to a college reunion “costume” party that turn out to be a masquerade. After a nice amount of humiliation, they leave and discover on their way home people believe they are actual cops.  They goof around and soak up the newfound respect for awhile, but eventually decide to use their fake uniforms and badges for actual crimes by breaking up a local business being used and stolen from by a bad guy named Mossi (James D’Arcy) and his henchmen. After this Ryan wants to continue busting crime, but Justin wants to to follow the rules and stop. It’s not too hard to guess what happens after that. Ryan buys a car off of Ebay and sows a sergeant patch on his uniform and they continue. They keep running into Mossi and his plots unfold with new danger being added at every turn. This is the story and the plot itself is pretty predictable but that’s exactly what I was expecting.

By far the best part of the film is the friendship between Ryan and Justin. The actors also star together in New Girl and have great chemistry and are both very likable. While the film isn’t overly funny, what it does have would’ve suffered greatly without them.

The film itself didn’t do all it could’ve with the great premise. It has a few wacky crime scenes, and one point when they’re mistaken for stripper cops but it’s still very unexplored.

Let’s Be Cops does have some hilarious moments though due to some fantastic performances by the supporting cast. Keegan-Michael Key, most well known for Key and Peele on Comedy Central, is fantastic as the bad guy turned informant. Any time he is on screen, is a memorable moment in the film. Rob Riggle is an honest cop named Segars who helps the guys throughout the film and also provides plenty of laughs.

There’s also a subplot of Justin trying to get his video game Patrolman published, and his second pitch is the best scene in the film.

There are a lot of good aspects of Let’s Be Cops, but it had unused potential. A through and through great cast kept a smile on my face for most of the movie but it didn’t have as many laugh out loud moments as au expected. The plot is goofy but extremely unexplored. The movie will give you a few chuckles but not enough to keep you entertained the entire time.

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Will Stribling is an intern at The Vicksburg Post and can be reached by email at will.stribling@vicksburgpost.com and by phone at 601-636-4545 ext. 140.