COPS AND ROBBERSONS

The Robbersons, complete with three children and a dog, live in the quintessentially bland, suburban, middle-class neighborhood in COPS AND ROBBERSONS. Drifting and disconnected from each other by the forces of teenage rebellion, middle-class busyness and lack of family unity, Norman and his wife, Helen, are in need of something to spice up their marriage and help their children grow together. Into their lives come the detective duo of crusty Jake Stone and his eager beaver younger partner, Tony, who move in with them to conduct 24-hour surveillance. Soon, a counterfeiter and murderer, Osborn, moves next door. Norman Robberson, obsessed with television re-runs of police shows, jumps at the opportunity to play cop, but he botches everything up and then helps save the day as the criminal Osborn is captured with a minimum of violence and fanfare.

The role and set-up are ripe for some hilarious gags, but what we get is a zombie-inspired acting performance from Chevy Chase, with totally predictable and uninspired gags leading to an anti-climactic ending in which Chevy is no wiser to the problems that caused his family’s predicament in the first place. Good comedy is supposed to help reinforce the social order. This film should have revealed the proper way to overcome family weaknesses.