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Cop and a Half
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Wikipedia article
'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 US and grossed $40.7 million worldwide against a $4 million budget. The film was followed by a lower budget, direct-to-DVD sequel, 'Cop and a Half: New Recruit' (2017).
Plot
Devon Butler (Norman D. Golden II) is an eight-year-old boy who lives in Tampa with his grandmother and dreams of being a cop. He watches police TV shows, knows police procedures and plays cops and robbers with his friend Ray (Sammy Hernandez). One day, while snooping around in a warehouse, he witnesses a murder. He goes to the police, who want the information but he refuses to give it unless they make him a cop. They place him in the care of veteran Detective Nick McKenna (Burt Reynolds), who dislikes children and the two team up in a comic series of events to find the killer and take down a drug kingpin who ordered the hit.
Cast
* Burt Reynolds as Detective Nick McKenna
* Norman D. Golden II as Devon Butler
* Ruby Dee as Rachel Baldwin
* Holland Taylor as Captain Rubio
* Ray Sharkey as Vinnie Fountain
* Sammy Hernandez as Ray Sanchez
* Sean O'Neal as McNally
* Frank Sivero as "Chu"
* Rocky Giordani as Quintero
* Marc Macaulay as Waldo
* Tom McCleister as Rudy
* Ralph Wilcox as Detective Matt McPhail
* Tom Kouchalakos as Detective Jenkins
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 rewritten to be female, then back to male once Golden was cast. Shooting took place in Tampa, Florida between April and June 1992.
Reynolds reportedly argued with director Winkler through the shoot and later became convinced that producer Brian Grazer refused to work with him again as a result.
Soundtrack
Joey Lawrence's "Nothin' My Love Can't Fix" is used as the end title song.
Reception
The film holds a 14% approval rating on the film review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 14 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." Critic Gene Siskel also excoriated the film, seeing it as indicative of "artistic bankruptcy" on Burt Reynolds' 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.Gene Siskel. "The Joy of Watching 'The Joy Luck Club'" 'TV Guide'; January 25, 1997; Page 18 However, Roger Ebert 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 No.1. In its second week it dropped to number 3. Industry analysists 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 US and another $8.8 in other territories for worldwide total of $40.7 million, making the film a considerable success against its modest $4 million budget.Awards
Sequel
A straight-to-DVD sequel, entitled 'Cop and a Half: New Recruit', was released on August 10, 2017, starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Lulu Wilson.
References
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