THE essence of comedy pits straight man against fall guy. Luke Greenfield’s film may be billed as comedy but a small audience representative of a range of age groups laughed little during the screening when I watched it.

Its only clever element is the way Greenway’s screenplay makes the fall guy behave like he’s straight man. Damon Wayans Jr. plays computer-game designer Justin, sharing an apartment with unemployed Ryan (Jake Johnson) in whose hands Justin is putty.

To attend a class reunion that they understand (wrongly, like most things about the plot) to be a costume party, they dress as cops. Passers-by think they’re the real deal.

Justin’s acquiescence in Ryan’s increasing perception of himself in this new career is the plot’s main pivot. By accident through unsubtle contrivance, the pair becomes involved in a crime caper involving drugs, arms trading and financial shenanigans.

Funny employs wit. Stupid doesn’t. Funny is sadly absent from “Let’s Be Cops”. Stupid is not an appropriate alternative. It doesn’t take long for Ryan’s unremitting and repetitive stupidity to dominate the film, boring the audience. Not a good thing.

At Hoyts, Limelight and Dendy