Cop And A Half

''Cop and a Half'' is a 1993 American family buddy cop-comedy film directed by Henry Winkler, and stars Burt Reynolds, Norman D. Golden II and Ray Sharkey (in his final role). Reynolds plays a veteran cop who reluctantly takes an eight-year-old boy (Golden) as his partner to solve a murder investigation.

''Cop and a Half'' opened at #1 in the U.S. and grossed $40.7 million worldwide against a $14 million budget. The film was followed by a lower budgeted, direct-to-DVD sequel, ''Cop and a Half: New Recruit'' (2017).

Plot

Devon Butler is an eight-year old boy who lives in Tampa Bay, Florida with his grandmother Rachel in a small apartment. Devon dreams of being a cop. He watches police TV shows, knows police procedures, and plays cops and robbers with his friend Raymond Sanchez. One day, while snooping around in a warehouse, he witnesses a murder. He goes to the police station to report the crime where he meets Captain Rubio and Detective Nick McKenna, who dislikes children. The police try and get information out of Devon, but he refuses to give the information unless they make him a cop. They place him in protective custody with Detective McKenna, and the two team up in a comic series of events to find the killer. They eventually take down the drug kingpin who ordered the hit and Devon becomes a real life hero and Detective McKenna changes his mind about disliking children. Life eventually returns back to normal and Devon and Detective McKenna become friends.

Cast

Production

Macaulay Culkin was approached to play the child. Culkin dropped out, along with Kurt Russell, who was attached to play Det. McKenna, when the film was delayed for script rewrites. The child co-star was re-written to be female, but was returned to male when Golden was cast. An entire B roll was shot using Peter Weller as the titular cop. It was scrapped when Weller was found to be taking the film too seriously. Filming took place in Tampa, Florida, between April and June 1992.

Reynolds reportedly argued with director Winkler through the shoot, and would become convinced that producer Brian Grazer refused to work with him again as a result.

Despite several crew members alleging that Reynolds was difficult to work with, he behaved with incredible courtesy toward Golden. In a 2024 interview, Golden stated that he remembered that Reynolds as a "class act" who took issue with the disingenuous people who were "only around him for who he was". Golden recalls Reynolds as being responsive to the more genuine individuals around him.

The film's original score was composed by Alan Silvestri.

Soundtrack

Joey Lawrence's " Nothin' My Love Can't Fix" is used as the end title song.

Reception

The film received mostly negative reviews from film critics, and holds a 13% approval rating on the film review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on scale of A+ to F.

Jay Boyar of the ''Orlando Sentinel'' wrote, "Just about the only really enjoyable thing about ''Cop and a Half'' is Norman D. Golden II, who is genuinely cute and a pretty good little actor besides."

Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin seemed to agree. "A hemorrhoid-and-a-half to anyone who sits all the way through this...abjectly painful comedy, which does about as much for Reynolds' career as '' Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot'' did for Sylvester Stallone's. That it was Ray Sharkey's last movie adds insult to injury."

Critic Gene Siskel of the ''Chicago Tribune'' also excoriated the film, seeing it as indicative of "artistic bankruptcy" on Burt Reynolds's part, and singled out Norman D. Golden II's performance as "awkward". Siskel later called it the worst movie of 1993. Siskel speculated that NBC thought little of the film when they aired it in its broadcast-network debut, pointing out that they scheduled it opposite the 1997 Super Bowl.

However, Roger Ebert of the '' Chicago Sun-Times'' gave it 3 stars out of a possible 4, saying, "There isn't much that's original in ''Cop and a Half'', but there's a lot that's entertaining, and there's a winning performance by a young man with a big name, Norman D. Golden II, who plays little Devon Butler, a kid who dreams of someday wearing the shield."

Box office

The film debuted at number 1. In its second week it dropped to number 3. Industry analysts expected it to open with $4 million, but it grossed $6 million. '' Variety'' attributed the film's opening to its poster, which they said is reminiscent of '' Kindergarten Cop''. It grossed a total of $31.9 million in the U.S., and another $8.8 in other territories, for worldwide total of $40.7 million, making the film a considerable success against its modest $14 million budget.

Awards

Sequel

A straight-to-DVD sequel, titled ''Cop and a Half: New Recruit'', was released on August 10, 2017, starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Lulu Wilson, Janet Kidder, Michael Coleman, Giles Panton, Jordyn Ashley Olson, and Wallace Shawn.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cop and a Half
1993 films
American police detective films
1993 crime comedy films
American buddy cop films
American crime comedy films
1990s English-language films
Films scored by Alan Silvestri
Films directed by Henry Winkler
Films set in Tampa, Florida
Films set in Florida
Films shot in Florida
Imagine Entertainment films
1990s police comedy films
Universal Pictures films
1990s buddy cop films
Golden Raspberry Award–winning films
Films produced by Paul Maslansky
1990s American films
English-language crime comedy films
English-language action films
English-language thriller films
English-language buddy comedy films