Copposites is a body swap crime comedy from I Now Pronounce You Black and White writer-director Oliver Rodger. It’s refreshing to see a high concept comedy from South Africa, starring local comedians Rob Van Vuuren and Siv Ngesi, with support from Nik Rabinowitz, Alfred Ntombela and Loyiso Gola. Sadly, this stellar comedy line-up is wasted on a raw script, uninspired storytelling, naive characterisation and sitcom production values.

The story centres on Jan Venter (Van Vuuren), a down-on-his-luck cop and Sharky Majola (Ngesi), a one-last-job crook, who are forced to work together to find a cure after a DNA altering formula turns their lives inside out.

Copposites would be lucky to be described as Madam & Eve, Mad Buddies and Rush Hour 3 in a noisy blender. There are moments that seem to have been lifted from the pages of a Madam & Eve comic book, while the characters have been treated like live-action cartoons. Unfortunately, it just isn’t as witty and only seems to retain the same TV quality production values as the sitcom.

You get the impression that Copposites is trying to corner the Leon Schuster market, leaning towards slapstick comedy, over-the-top characters, multi-cultural stereotypes and even hiring Schuster’s right hand man, Alfred Ntombela. Schuster’s Mad Buddies was a disappointment, throwing two complete opposites together and relying on their chemistry in much the same way as Copposites. Unfortunately, the characters are generic and for the most part unlikable, making it difficult to sympathise or identify with them.

“…and THIS is my bad cop face.”

Copposites also tries to leverage it’s buddy movie dynamic in a similar way to Rush Hour, even borrowing a joke or two. Rob Van Vuuren’s physical comedy and expressions substitute Jackie Chan’s acrobatics, while Siv Ngesi gives Chris Tucker competition. The cultural, language, race and mistaken identity themes provide comic material with diminishing returns and it’s not long before the body swap novelty runs dry.

Van Vuuren and Ngesi are funny guys with good chemistry, who do their utmost to carry the film on charm alone. Van Vuuren’s energy makes him fun to watch and his range of expressions and accents keep him entertaining. In much the same way, Siv Ngesi gives Van Vuuren as good as he gets, completing a well-weighted and versatile body swap team.

Whether by virtue of a lack of screen time or a lack of character, the rest of the ensemble are made up of middling to over-the-top performances. There aren’t really any stand outs from the big cast, if you skim over Grant Swanby as Captain Kruger and Lukhanyo Bele as Jabu. Swanby’s near-normalcy helps stabilize the story, while Bele brings Sharky’s wacky sidekick to life.

“Of all the lawns in all of Mzansi… you had to cotch on mine!”

Copposites is cheapened by an unnecessary toilet scene, some racially insensitive subtitles and a character based on Stephen Hawking, whose computerised voice and disability become a running joke. The concept lends itself to some offside racial stereotype comedy, but this doesn’t license a free-for-all and while mostly justified, Copposites oversteps the mark on a few occasions.

While it has a fun tone, the story seems like an afterthought and the characters don’t seem to be thinking for themselves. The co-leads are simply subjected to a series of scenarios, in which they confront a range of quirky characters in the hopes of magically drawing closer to a solution. We’re just on-board for the ride, which seems much more fun for the actors than the audience.

The South African diversity, the cast’s charms, the concept’s appeal, the naive cartoon slapstick and the odd chuckle keep you watching, but like a headless chicken, Copposites is just too mindless to sustain itself and the curiosity of its audience for long.

The bottom line: Misfire

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