Kevin Smith hasn’t directed any films that he hasn’t written himself, and perhaps there’s a reason for that. However, he took that chance and some of the results could be seen before Sherlock Holmes over the weekend:
Of course, true Smith fans know that Cop Out had been going by a different title all throughout filming, and Smith explained to Entertainment Weekly why the movie isn’t called A Couple of Dicks:
[What] I had gone through with Zack and Miri Make a Porno—”porno” had become very problematic, it became tough for us to advertise [the film], blah blah blah. Warner Bros. decided, “Hey man, we’ll call the networks and see if we’re going to get any problems [with A Couple of Dicks as a title], months before the movie’s ever going to come out.” The top 3 networks—CBS, ABC, NBC—said we can’t run one of your spots before 9 o’clock.
Smith goes on to say that it was a quick decision on everyone’s part because of the Holmes trailer opportunity and that he’s somewhat pleased by the meta aspect of the name. I will admit that I also thought the same thing when I first saw the trailer: that doing this movie is a complete and total cop out for Smith.
Cop Out will be released in the U.S. on February 26, 2010.
lethalinterjection says:
I'd feel like it was more of a cop out if he was more actively attempting to do stuff outside of his own scripts. This one just kind of fell into his lap because Willis wanted to work with him, if I remember correctly.
His acting roles have been more of a cop out in my opinion, though even then, he was sought out by the casting directors because they were looking for that type of personality (at least in the case of Die Hard and Catch and Release, where movies like Daredevil and Southland Tales were more because of connections to the directors/actors).
Necrothug says:
I agree completely. He always dreamed of working with Bruce, but knew he had no place for him in the movies he writes. Personally, I think we are getting ready to see a big shift in his writing style, and I can't wait. I love his older films, but there si something great about growing up and watching his projects grow up at the same time.
At a recent QnA session of his I attended, he was very frank about being in a different place mentally now. He no longer feels like he has to write and direct his own stuff anymore because he wants to grow as a director. What better challenge than directing something not penned by him?
nickseam says:
Tracy Jordan was in a movie called Black Cop, White Cop. Granted, it's a little different, but still…
lethalinterjection says:
Interesting that he said it like that.
Especially with his peer Tarantino departing so much from his regular work with Basterds, which definitely felt like him, but felt like a lot of growth, too.
Necrothug says:
I agree completely. He always dreamed of working with Bruce, but knew he had no place for him in the movies he writes. Personally, I think we are getting ready to see a big shift in his writing style, and I can't wait. I love his older films, but there si something great about growing up and watching his projects grow up at the same time.
At a recent QnA session of his I attended, he was very frank about being in a different place mentally now. He no longer feels like he has to write and direct his own stuff anymore because he wants to grow as a director. What better challenge than directing something not penned by him?
nickseam says:
Tracy Jordan was in a movie called Black Cop, White Cop. Granted, this is a little different, but still…
lethalinterjection says:
Interesting that he said it like that.
Especially with his peer Tarantino departing so much from his regular work with Basterds, which definitely felt like him, but felt like a lot of growth, too.
leslie speakers says:
Smith just will never get a break from his haters. He tries to expand his audience with a PG-13 film (which gets caught upin the “Bennifer” fiasco and is panned mainly due to that), goes back to the well and gets a lot of flack for it, makes a new film in a similar vein to his previous work with the biggest new comedy star and it tanks, and now he does a film he doesn't write (but does star Bruce Willis) and he's all of a sudden a sell-out.
I dunno. He could hand each of his most angry critics $1000 in cash
and they'd probably find something to talk smack about.
TrishaLynn77 says:
I'm most definitely not a hater. I own “Clerks: The Animated Series,” and think that I actually prefer Mallrats to Chasing Amy.
I just didn't see anything new in the trailer that I haven't seen before in other buddy cop films and although I'm sure Smith gave his leads ample opportunities to ad-lib or go with their instincts, what draws me to a Smith film is his dialogue and his characters.
I do see what you mean, though, by choosing to point out my critique. I should probably give him a chance to surprise me by how well he can direct someone else's work… but then again, I wasn't impressed by the work he did on the pilot episode of “Reaper” so then we're back at square one, aren't we?