By Jay A. Fernandez

Well, you knew it was going to get a title change. “A Couple of Dicks,” while a bullseye for the typical Kevin Smith crowd, wasn’t going to draw anyone else to his attempt to break out of the Kevin Smith box.

So here we have “Cop Out,” and its newly released trailer:

While I like that Warner Bros. is playing off its own storied cop/crime film legacy, this project hits a little too generic in contrast (starting with the meaningless punny title). Like Chris Tucker, a little Tracy Morgan goes a long, long way. And though this is Bruce Willis in his element — and he had mad chemistry with Sam Jackson in the third “Die Hard” — he looks kind of neutered here.

And in a strange new trend, this trailer doesn’t say a thing about the plot. I’m the first to gripe when a trailer unspools the whole freakin’ storyline, but can we get some hint of what the challenge or thematic throughline is for these characters you want us to come spend time with? The fact that you think they’re funny together (of which there isn’t much evidence here) is not nearly enough.

Sadly, this new title will be its own tempting bullseye for those Smith fans who will see this film as just that.