Top 10 Best Buddy Cops from Movies
Stars & Popcorn and the Case of the Best Buddy Cops!
Buddy cops are a stable of cinema. That’s why this week, I’m taking a look at all the great police partners out there and pulling out the best of the best as I count down the top 10 of all time. Now, there are a few rules that I put in place for this week’s list: 1) They have to have an actual partner (Sorry Beverly Hills Cop and Die Hard) 2) Both partners must be police officers (sorry 48 Hours and Turner and Hooch) 3) No Federal Agents (Sorry MIB and The Heat) 4) They have to be on the same side (Sorry Training Day). With those rules in place, I set out sorting through all the partners that have appeared on the silver screen and after hours of investigation, I finally have a full proof case for the 10 best buddy cops of all time. Plenty of obvious choices are on this list, but digging deeper revealed a few partners that just might surprise you. Get ready, because you have the right to remain silent as you read through this list of buddy cops!
10. Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs- Miami Vice
Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx brought Crockett and Tubbs to the big screen with the help of the late, great Tony Scott. The duo were the epitome of cool back in the 80s, so it was interesting to see if they still had it. Handlebar mustache aside, they actually managed to make an update of the classic show work. The undercover cops do what they do best as they take on a drug lord threatening the streets of Miami. This means that they have to get up to plenty of shenanigans to maintain their cover and have to do a lot of bad things for good reasons. In the end, they find themselves in over their heads and have to fight against impossible odds to protect themselves and the ones they love as their covers are threatened. It’s a chaotic movie that uses Scott’s trademark visuals to make it “stylish.” Still, Farrell and Foxx make for great partners in it.
9. Joe Friday and Pep Streebeck- Dragnet
Yes, there was a movie based on the series Dragnet. No, it wasn’t nearly as boring as the show was. The satire starred Dan Akroyd and Tom Hanks as mismatched buddy cops taking on an evil cult known as P.A.G.A.N. (People Against Goodness and Normalcy). Needless to say, this is a pretty goofy comedy. Get used to it, because quite a few comedians are on this list. Akroyd plays the straightlaced by the books Joe Friday while Hanks plays his new street smart, loose cannon of a partner, Streebeck. The two don’t get along at first, but soon Friday learns that if he’s going to stand any chance of stopping this cult’s evil plan, he’ll have to trust his partner and follow his lead. Not many people have seen this 80s comedy (at least not many that I’ve met), but I thought it was hilarious.
8. Terry Hoitz and Allen Gamble- The Other Guys
Speaking of hilarious, I’m sure a lot more people will be familiar with these buddy cops. Mark Wahlberg and Will Farrell team up as a pair of second-string losers who decide to seize their moment of glory when two of the best cops in the NYPD meet a sudden demise (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson). Hoping to fill their shoes, the two mismatched partners pick up the case with disastrous results at first. Hoitz is a detective with anger issues, and Gamble is a forensic accountant who can’t be trusted with a gun. They definitely seem like ill-fitted choices to take on such a big case, but their skill sets actually prove to be perfectly suited for it. The only question is if their clashing personalities will get in the way. Wahlberg and Farrell prove to be a dream team because The Other Guys definitely wasn’t the last movie they made together.
7. Marcus Burnett and Michael ‘’Mike’’ Lowrey- Bad Boys
Looks like Los Angeles and New York are the only two cities with super cops. Another duo from Miami is making an appearance on this list of buddy cops. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence star in the action series from the explosive mind of Michael Bay. Having said that, you have to understand that Bad Boys is not what we would consider a good movie in the traditional sense. However, Stars & Popcorn is not a traditional movie review site. Despite its flaws, Bad Boys has become one of the most popular trashy action films of all time. With that, Burnett and Lowery have become iconic buddy cops as well. Like most of the entries on this list, they shoot first and do paperwork never, but that’s what we love about them. Personally, I have questions about how they afford all those flashy cars and expensive suits, but I’m not going to mention that to Internal Affairs.
6. Morton Schmidt and Greg Jenko- 21 Jump Street
Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill star in one of the best big-screen adaptations of television series ever made. If I’m being honest, the original series, 21 Jump Street was super trashy. I’m talking “emo Johnny Depp sitting in a window sill playing saxophone in the street light” trashy. The movie version was absolutely hilarious. The premise features two baby-faced officers going under as high school students to uncover a drug ring. The problem is that high school has changed a lot over the years, and their roles soon become reversed as they learn that nerds are cool now. Tatum and Hill are brilliant together as they try to fit in with the younger crowd and find that high school is a lot more complicated than they remember. It spawned a sequel, 22 Jump Street, and I’m hoping that this will become a trilogy.