The Ten Best Buddy Cop Movies
Nathan Swank
August 1st, 2013
5. HOT FUZZ – BAD BOYS is an excellent segway into it’s finest inspiration. HOT FUZZ takes every cliche action scene and storyline from the buddy cop film and tears it apart with biting parody. What works is that it keeps serious face throughout the picture. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are Nicholas Angel and PC Danny Butterman fight crime in their quaint English village. THE OTHER GUYS with Will Ferrel and Mark Wahlberg is another good example but didn’t quite have the chops to make the list.
4. MEN IN BLACK – Will Smith gets his second film on the list, this time pairing up with the always sour-faced Tommy Lee Jones. As a secret agency who police the literal alien visitors to earth (not to be confused with this summer’s R.I.P.D. that finds Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges policing the dead in the same fashion), Kay and Jay provide an abundant amount of humor and wild antics. This makes it higher on the list simply for the scenes of Jay trying out for the agency.
3. RUNNING SCARED – I caught this film again recently and it still holds up quite well. As the oldest film on the list, I’m so surprised just how funny and exciting it consistently stands. Who would have though Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines would be one of the best buddy cop pairings in film history?
2. 21 JUMP STREET – Remaking a beloved television series into a comedy is tricky business (see: STARSKY AND HUTCH and DRAGNET). But Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum surprised everyone when they released last year’s hysterical take on the famous show that starred a very young Johnny Depp as an undercover cop posing as a high school student. 21 JUMP STREET isn’t afraid to expose just how silly the concept is.
1. LETHAL WEAPON – Holding a special place in my heart, LETHAL WEAPON has to win this race. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh are the ultimate buddy cop pairing. The Richard Donner film is funny and action-packed that spawned four sequels that continually get lighter in tone but were still a blast as the chemistry between the two leads is unmatched.
