10 Box Office Hits You Forgot Even Existed
8. Let's Be Cops
A postmodern twist on the buddy cop comedy, Let's Be Cops follows two washed-up thirty-something best friends that pose as real police officers to bask in the adulation that comes with the uniform. Hi-jinks obviously ensue. Its a solid hook for a comedy, but despite the chemistry between leads Jake Johnson and Damnon Wayans Jr. the movie never makes the most of its potential.
Released in August 2014, just two months after the vaguely-similar and vastly superior 22 Jump Street, Let's Be Cops played incredibly well as counter-programming to the glut of summer blockbusters. The modestly-budgeted $17m flick held incredibly well at the domestic box office, where it remained in the top ten for eight weeks, and the movie ended its theatrical run with an impressive $138.2m in the bank.
There is a great comedy buried in there somewhere, but Let's Be Cops fails to make the most of the intriguing premise and often feels like a one-note sketch dragged out to feature length. You'd think it would get a sequel given its box office performance, but the whole endeavor turned out to be so bland and uninspired that any such talk quickly evaporated.