I dig COP OUT. It’s warm and funny and looks/plays like something I spent a great deal of my youth watching: a studio movie.

I view the flick this way: when Spielberg and Lucas made STAR WARS and RAIDERS, both were homaging the flicks of their youth – in their cases, the cliffhanger serials. Not implying COP OUT is remotely akin to the quality and ambition of SW or RAIDERS, but the ethos behind the making of this flick was borrowed from those guys: make that movie as an adult that I watched as a child. Tap into the movie buff that existed before I fell in love with Film. It was kinda like “Let’s make a movie for the fun of it.” (’cause Lord knows it wasn’t for profit.)

Anyway, I’m satisfied that I did what I set out to do. Whether people dig on what that is, exactly, is another matter altogether – and one, as guessed around this thread – that I’m not as invested in as I’ve been in the past. Even though there’s lots of me in the flick, I still have a sense of detachment from it – and not, as guessed, because I didn’t write the script. That sense of detachment has more to do with the fact that we all set out to make a piece of entertainment, not make a personal statement. This is the first round of press in which I assume we’ll talk more about the making of the flick than the flick itself – as there’s not much even the most imaginary cineaste is gonna be able to pull out it. I mean, it’s called COP OUT, not SCHINDLER’S COP OUT.

But for me? COP OUT (formerly A COUPLE OF DICKS) is – in ways I can’t clarify (as I don’t have the language for it yet) – a big step forward in my day job. Granted, not in that very-apparent CHASING AMY way, but it’s the start of something very different for me, inasmuch as the filmmaking thing goes. In the beginning, it was all very in-the-moment, now-or-never, fight-or-die. From this current vantage point – 15 years in, now fairly confident (subject to health) there’ll be a next 15? It’s calmer, not as desperate. The fight to be heard or to prove oneself is long over. There is enough work – different, original work – to qualify as a legacy. I know I’ll be remembered for what we accomplished in that 15 year span.

Check out the entire post at the official blog of Kevin Smith.

Want more proof that the film’s gonna kick butt? We’ve fixed that “red band” trailer link that went down briefly after the YouTube pulled it yesterday, so be sure to surf on back if you missed that one. The trailer has been officially available via Myspace, you just gotta put your birthday in there before you watch it. But here’s more. The Film Stage provides an essay on “Why ‘Cop Out’ Will Succeed”. Here’s a taste:

…It should also be remembered that trailers are all about marketing. Marketing to the majority market that will see the movie. Warner Bros. is in no way selling this movie to film buffs, bloggers, or Smith fans. Why? Because they know we are already going to see this movie. We don’t need to be sold on Cop Out. However, people who have never heard of this movie before, i.e. the majority market, needs to be sold the movie because a Bruce Willis/Tracy Morgan buddy cop comedy is foreign to them. Based on the reaction I saw from people when it played in front of Sherlock Holmes, I would say Warner Bros. succeeded.

[Now this piece was originally supposed to run before the Red Band was released. But since that was released early, here are my thoughts on the reaction to it. I had no doubt that, that trailer was going to be the one to turn people around. The reason being, that trailer WAS made for the internet crowd that already knows about the film. We are the ones Warner Bros. is marketing too in this case and like the green band, they succeeded.]

…

…Cop Out is a film that will have the Smith touch. It won’t sound like a Kevin Smith film, and might have a quicker pace than his usual work. But, it will be a Kevin Smith film. No one can deny that. This is a film that was grown for success. This is a film that is meant to show what Kevin Smith is capable of outside of his norm. This is the film that will prove to the world that Kevin Smith is more than just dick and fart jokes. Come February 26th, don’t be surprised to see Cop Out gain #1 at the box office (unless Shutter Island has two weeks in it).”