本·马尼拜格(派瑞·沈饰)是一名亚裔美国高中少年——一个极其聪明的完美主义者,背负着亚洲人的传统思想,但是过于有成就感反而成为一种井蛙之见,直接束缚了他思想的正常发展。本生活在加利福尼亚州橘县的一个保守的郊区,学校和班级都是一样的压抑,生活中除了三点一线似乎再没有其他的激情可言。就这样平淡地渡过中学时光,本毕业时是班级成绩最优秀的学生,顺利地进入到最好的常春藤联盟大学。 在本高校生活开始的时候,他偶然帮助了达瑞克·鲁(罗格·范饰),一个高年级致告别辞的毕业生代表——是另外一个过于有成就感的人。本在新环境里迅速结交了几个朋友,包括美丽的史蒂芬妮(卡琳·安娜·丘格饰);还有关系最好的维吉尔(贾森·J·托宾饰),他才华横溢却在社交上笨手笨脚;还有一个就是维吉尔的表兄韩(宋康饰),一个丢失了灵魂、肌肉胜过大脑的家伙。但此时他发现达瑞克有些奇怪:作为...。This very Kafka-esque film is Keaton's response to the Fatty Arbuckle scandal.[citation needed] Even though the central character's intentions are good, he cannot win, no matter how inventively he tries. He gets into various scraps with police officers throughout the film. Eventually, he unwittingly throws a bomb into a police parade and ends up being chased by a horde of cops.
At the end of the film, Keaton's character locks up the cops in the police station. However, the girl he is trying to woo disapproves of his behavior and gives him the cold shoulder. Therefore, he unlocks the police station and is immediately pulled in by the cops. The film ends with the title "The End" written on a tombstone with Keaton's pork pie hat propped on it.
One of Keaton's most iconic and brilliantly-constructed short films, Cops was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry in 1997.。