# Cop and a Half

Cop and a Half is a 1993 American family buddy cop-comedy film directed by Henry Winkler, and stars Burt Reynolds, Norman D. Golden II and Ray Sharkey (in his final role). Reynolds plays a veteran cop who reluctantly takes an eight-year-old boy (Golden) as his partner to solve a murder investigation.
Cop and a Half opened at #1 in the U.S. and grossed $40.7 million worldwide against a $14 million budget. The film was followed by a lower budgeted, direct-to-DVD sequel, Cop and a Half: New Recruit (2017).

## Plot

Devon Butler is an eight-year old boy who lives in Tampa Bay, Florida with his grandmother Rachel Butler (Ruby Dee) in a small apartment. Devon dreams of being a cop. He watches police TV shows, knows police procedures, and plays cops and robbers with his friend Raymond Sanchez (Sammy Hernandez). One day, while snooping around in a warehouse, he witnesses a murder. He goes to the police station to report the crime where he meets Captain Rubio (Holland Taylor) and Detective Nick McKenna (Burt Reynolds), who dislikes children. The police try and get information out of Devon, but he refuses to give the information unless they make him a cop. They place him in protective custody with Detective McKenna, and the two team up in a comic series of events to find the killer. They eventually take down the drug kingpin who ordered the hit and Devon becomes a real life hero and Detective McKenna changes his mind about disliking children. Life eventually returns back to normal and Devon and Detective McKenna become friends.

## Cast

* Burt Reynolds as Detective Nick McKenna
* Norman D. Golden II as Devon Butler
* Ruby Dee as Rachel Baldwin
* Holland Taylor as Captain Rubio
* Ray Sharkey as Vinnie Fountain
* Sammy Hernandez as Ray Sanchez
* Sean O'Neal as McNally
* Frank Sivero as "Chu"
* Rocky Giordani as Quintero
* Marc Macaulay as Waldo
* Tom McCleister as Rudy
* Ralph Wilcox as Detective Matt McPhail
* Tom Kouchalakos as Detective Jenkins

## Production

Macaulay Culkin was approached to play the child. Culkin dropped out, along with Kurt Russell, who was attached to play Det. McKenna, when the film was delayed for script rewrites. The child co-star was re-written to be female, but was returned to male when Golden was cast. An entire B roll was shot using Peter Weller as the titular cop. It was scrapped when Weller was found to be taking the film too seriously. Filming took place in Tampa, Florida, between April and June 1992.
Reynolds reportedly argued with director Winkler through the shoot, and would become convinced that producer Brian Grazer refused to work with him again as a result.
Despite several crew members alleging that Reynolds was difficult to work with, he behaved with incredible courtesy toward Golden. In a 2024 interview, Golden stated that he remembered that Reynolds as a "class act" who took issue with the disingenuous people who were "only around him for who he was". Golden recalls Reynolds as being responsive to the more genuine individuals around him.
The film's original score was composed by Alan Silvestri.

## Soundtrack

Joey Lawrence's "Nothin' My Love Can't Fix" is used as the end title song.

## Reception

The film received mostly negative reviews from film critics, and holds a 13% approval rating on the film review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on scale of A+ to F.
Jay Boyar of the Orlando Sentinel wrote, "Just about the only really enjoyable thing about Cop and a Half is Norman D. Golden II, who is genuinely cute and a pretty good little actor besides."
Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin seemed to agree. "A hemorrhoid-and-a-half to anyone who sits all the way through this...abjectly painful comedy, which does about as much for Reynolds' career as Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot did for Sylvester Stallone's. That it was Ray Sharkey's last movie adds insult to injury."
Critic Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also excoriated the film, seeing it as indicative of "artistic bankruptcy" on Burt Reynolds's part, and singled out Norman D. Golden II's performance as "awkward". Siskel later called it the worst movie of 1993. Siskel speculated that NBC thought little of the film when they aired it in its broadcast-network debut, pointing out that they scheduled it opposite the 1997 Super Bowl.
However, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 stars out of a possible 4, saying, "There isn't much that's original in Cop and a Half, but there's a lot that's entertaining, and there's a winning performance by a young man with a big name, Norman D. Golden II, who plays little Devon Butler, a kid who dreams of someday wearing the shield."

### Box office

The film debuted at number 1. In its second week it dropped to number 3. Industry analysts expected it to open with $4 million, but it grossed $6 million. Variety attributed the film's opening to its poster, which they said is reminiscent of Kindergarten Cop. It grossed a total of $31.9 million in the U.S., and another $8.8 in other territories, for worldwide total of $40.7 million, making the film a considerable success against its modest $14 million budget.

## Awards

| Awards | Category | Subject | Result |
| Stinkers Bad Movie Awards | Worst Picture | | Nominated |
| Stinkers Bad Movie Awards | Worst Actor | Burt Reynolds | Nominated |
| Stinkers Bad Movie Awards | Worst Actor | Norman D. Golden II | Nominated |
| Golden Raspberry Award | Worst Actor | Burt Reynolds | Won |
| Golden Raspberry Award | Worst New Star | Norman D. Golden II | Nominated |
| Young Artist Award | Best Actor Under Ten in a Motion Picture | Norman D. Golden II | Nominated |

## Sequel

A straight-to-DVD sequel, titled Cop and a Half: New Recruit, was released on August 10, 2017, starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Lulu Wilson.