A raunchy comedy, buddy-cop, and a quest for vengeance, with all of these genres, Bad Man struggles to find a way on how to identify itself. While trying to be an enjoyable comedy cop film, it lacks a lot of reason to connect with these characters, even in the brief moments it can crack a good joke. 

Set in the late 2000s in the small town of Colt Lake, Tennessee, sheriff officer Sam Evans, played by Johnny Simmons, takes on a drug-related murder and struggles to solve the case. He is later assigned the help of Bobby Gaines, an undercover agent played by Seann William Scott, who does things the hard way. Together, they must solve the case while facing the wrath of deep ties in the town all connected back to a mafia. 

Scott’s portrayal of Bobby comes across as ranged with how he uses his serious tone to be either hotheaded or funny, but fails in the latter. Bobby is very one-note in the aspect that he only comes in being the occasional “badass” beating up all the crooks, but there is really nothing interesting about his execution of the archetype. The action of stopping crime is also extremely uninteresting; there are no actual stakes or any visually engaging manner in these fight sequences. In a similar note, Johnny Simmons is typically a funny standout in his previous roles, but even as a southern, unreliable cop, he provides no substance in his performance. Sam is persistent in trying to show the woman he’s in love with and his coworkers that he’s capable of more, but there is nothing more to him than that explored in the narrative. 

Speaking of, none of the women in the cast are given any personality to their characters besides being objects or motivations for the male characters. Marcelle LeBlanc and Lovi Poe are reduced to solely being love interests for the two main male protagonists across the entire film, they are never developed any further than that. Additionally, Jett Wilder, who plays Destiny, a gang member, is held hostage by the main protagonist, in which a male gang member yells it’s okay if she was shot being the only other notable moments including one of the films actresses.

The cast additionally includes Rob Riggle, who is known for similar comedic roles, and the late Chance Perdomo, who plays DJ, Sam Evans’ trustworthy companion. Chance Perdomo, who was known for Gen V, is the standout performance in this film; he’s both comedic and brings a tender feel to his role. Even though Chance Perdomo’s time on screen is limited, he carries the comedy to another level while mainly sharing the screen with Johnny Simmons. 

First-time film feature director Michael Diliberti, who previously wrote 30 Minutes or Less, brings no stylistic flair or much reason to laugh to this comedy film. This story is not particularly interesting to follow; there are a few moments of comedy sprinkled throughout the film, but never enough to warrant a full reason to stay engaged. It remains fully static in desperately trying to be an engaging crime movie, with even its plot twist at the end being morecon the half-baked end of evil schemes. The movie tries to balance its seriousness in its third act, though there is no character development or reason to feel for these main characters. There is never any exploration into the cast of characters besides them all feeling one singular emotion towards the crime they attempt to unravel. 

2 out of 5 stars 

Much of the comedy in Bad Man comes from small quibbles between the small cast of police officers and some of the townfolks who are never revisited leaving more to be desired. While the people yearn for another good buddy cop comedy, we will have keep waiting for one that can be fully enjoyable.