Kevin Smith is having title trouble again. After previously dealing with censorship related to the title Zach and Miri Make a Porno, the filmmaker has run into a snag with his next movie, originally called A Couple of Dicks. Warner Bros. has changed the title of the comedy, which will star Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan, to A Couple of Cops, obviously so as not to confuse anyone with the multiple (including the offensive) meanings of “dick.”
But this can’t be the end, because nobody in their right mind would distribute a movie with that new title. I’m pretty sure the word “cops” is poisonous. Has there been a single good movie with that word in the title since Buster Keaton’s 1922 short? Singularly, “cop” will occasionally work, such as in Beverly Hills Cop, Super Cop, Cop Land and Kindergarten Cop. But pluralized, I think the best we’ve seen is Cops and Robbersons. Recall that Hollywood Homicide was once titled “Two Cops,” which is quite like Smith’s movie’s name, but better. And maybe the original title cursed it, because the movie flopped. So, unless A Couple of Cops involves fumbling policemen resembling the Keystone Cops, it’s certain that the studio will need to brainstorm a new name quick, if it’s not already too late. Or, if Smith doesn’t really care about this movie, which he didn’t write and is seemingly only directing for the easy money, perhaps he can ultimately take his own name off and let it be an Alan Smithee film.
Here are some of the negative responses to the name change from around the web:
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The holidays are coming, and that either means spending time with your dysfunctional family or escaping them for the movies … where you’re likely to be met by other, fictional dysfunctional families. Already this season, Rachel Getting Married introduced us to the f’ed up faux masala of the Buchman clan, and later this month we get to follow Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon as they’re pulled into their separate quadrants of kin in Four Christmases. Also, for those who think dysfunction is an American tradition, this weekend sees the release of the French film A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël), which unites the two major premises of dysfunctional family movies by being set during the holidays and involving an ill family member.
With two more weeks left until Thanksgiving, after which we might not want to think about another family, real or cinematic, for the rest of our lives, it’s a perfect time to celebrate those dysfunctional tribes we love the best. Literally thousands of movies feature such families, though, so we’re sure to have left out some of your favorites. Definitely chime in below, and/or join the discussion currently going on over in our Top 5 group.
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