Cops & Robbersons

Cops & Robbersons is a 1994 American crime comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie, and starring Chevy Chase, Jack Palance, Dianne Wiest, and Robert Davi.

Cops & Robbersons
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Ritchie
Produced byRonald L. Schwary
Nancy Graham Tanen
Ned Tanen
Written byLindsay Maher
Starring
Music byWilliam Ross
CinematographyGerry Fisher
Edited byStephen A. Rotter
William S. Scharf
Production
company
Channel Productions
Distributed byTriStar Pictures
Release date
  • April 15, 1994 (1994-04-15)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$11,391,093[1]

Plot

When the police discover that a mob hitman has moved in next door to the Robbersons, they want to find out what he is up to. So they set up a stakeout in the Robbersons' home. Hard-nosed, tough-as-nails Jake Stone (Jack Palance) and his young partner Tony Moore (David Barry Gray) are assigned to the stakeout, but now it's a question of whether Jake can last long enough to capture the bad guys. The Robbersons want to help, and by doing so they drive Jake crazy.

Cast

Reception

Cops & Robbersons received generally negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 14% based on reviews from 21 critics.[2]

Roger Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, referring to it as "one more variation on the FOW movie, so called because the plot involves a Fish Out of the Water". He singled out a scene in which Chase's character smuggles police officers into his home and snatches a cat from his wife, commenting:

Funny? Yes? No? Lucille Ball could pull off moments like that, because you could almost believe she was that desperate, and scatter-brained. Desi Arnaz could almost be fooled by such a moment, because Lucy always had him confused anyway. But Norman and Helen Robberson? Watching the movie, I knew I was supposed to laugh, but all I could think of was: what did the people making the movie think about this scene while they were filming it? Anything?[3]

Commented Richard Harrington of The Washington Post:

Chevy Chase is lucky "Cops and Robbersons" isn't a sitcom. If it were, it would be canceled as pronto as his talk show was. The fault is not just Chase's—the plot in this "Stakeout" clone is a sack of woe—but much of the responsibility is. Someone wrongly advised Chase that it's enough to be the lovably klutzy Chevy, that no acting or effort is necessary. As a result, Norman Robberson is another in a too-long list of overly sedated Chase characters that are nothing to laugh about, or at. That's a serious problem for a comedy.[4]

Chris Hicks of the Deseret News opined that "Norman is the most ridiculous sitcom husband and father to grace the big screen since . . . well, since Clark Griswold, of the "National Lampoon's Vacation" pictures. And since both Norman and Clark are played by Chevy Chase, why not? They're both dumb and clumsy and have dysfunctional families, and they both pretend that everything's OK. But where the "Vacation" pictures had some satiric bite to offset the silliness—well, the first one did—"Cops and Robbersons" is just stupid. Loaded with ill-timed pratfalls and dopey physical shtick, it's movies like this that give slapstick a bad name."[5]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times lamented that the film was "even more unfunny than his disastrous talk show", calling it "a Chase vehicle with four flat tires"[6]

Year-end lists

Box office

The film debuted poorly at the box office, earning $3.7 million and coming in second place behind Four Weddings and a Funeral.[8] The film grossed just $11,391,093 in the domestic box office from an unknown budget.[1]

References
  1. Cops and Robbersons at Box Office Mojo
  2. Cops and Robbersons at Rotten Tomatoes
  3. Roger Ebert (1994-04-15). "Cops And Robbersons". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  4. "Cops And Robbersons". The Washington Post. 1994-04-15. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  5. "Cops And Robbersons". Deseret News. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  6. Maslin, Janet (1994-04-15). "Reviews/ Film; Chevy Chase, Wishing for Danger". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  7. Mayo, Mike (December 30, 1994). "The Hits and Misses at the Movies in '94". The Roanoke Times (Metro ed.). p. 1.
  8. Pristin, Terry (1994-04-19). "Weekend Box Office : Hey, Chevy, the British Are Coming". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-03.


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