Cop Land (1997) Rated: R for violence, Strong language and brief nudity. Runtime: 104 mins. Director: James Mangold Writer: James Mangold Tagline: No one is above the law. Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Janeane Garafalo....complete cast Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Most memorable quote: "...If we didn't pull over any police cars, there wouldn't be any violations in this town"
by Frank Wilkins OK...you probably think I've gone off my rocker for giving a Stallone flick a "reel rating" of 4 out of 5 popcorns. And I must admit that I hesitated before rating it so high. But this film actually deserves it. It is quite refreshing to see Stallone give up his super-action hero repute to show us what we always knew he didn't have. The ability to act. And the ability to play the wimp as convincingly as he played the Itallion Stallion, chiseling Rocky Balboa into American lore.
Sylvester Stallone is Freddy Heflin, the slovenly sheriff of Garrison, New Jersey, a small town across the river from New York City's 37th precinct. Garrison is a small bedroom community made up mostly of cops...New York city cops... Corrupt New York City cops on the take from the mob - and everyone, it seems, is involved. Freddy himself wanted to be a member of the force at one time, but an injury he incurred during the rescue of a drowning woman when he was younger, resulted in hearing loss in one ear. Now Freddy is the pushover sheriff of the town that calls itself home to many of the officers he idolizes.
Freddy begins to realize that most of the cops are crooked and led by the most corrupt of them all, Ray Donlan played by Harvey Keitel with same passion he demonstrated in Reservoir Dogs. An investigation into a shooting of innocent youths by a NYPD cop on the George Washington Bridge leads directly to Garrison and brings to us Internal Affairs investigator Lt. Mo Tilden played by Robert DeNiro. By the way, if you want to be cool, you call the George Washington Bridge the "GWB".
Cop Land is, on the surface, a gripping and tension-filled crime drama but , I think on a more sub-surface level it is a well developed and surprisingly well acted character study. Yes, I said well acted character study. A movie with Stallone is a character study and his character is a major factor. It's obvious that he was dedicated to proving his detractors wrong who always said that Stallone's success was a product of his muscular physique. He put on 40 pounds for this role and instead of sucking in his gut he sucks up his pride and gives a noticeable performance that needs mentioning. Like Andy Griffith, he plays his role with a cool, calm sweetness that demands sympathy and yet in the end exudes bad-ass confidence.
Stallone's performance is not the only one that deserves attention however. DeNiro's portrayal of the Internal Affairs officer is smart, sharp and filled with emotion as expected. Ray Liotta plays a coke-snorting cop who wants out of the corrupt force. Nice to see Janeane Garofalo play another small town cop similar to her role in Clay Pigeons (1998).
I'll go ahead and tell you that Cop Land is a movie that you must see. And you must see it for the acting, Sylvester Stallone included, but don't let the children watch, there is some rough language and there are one or two bloody scenes but not too bad. Very much a high macho factor but I think women will dig it too. You might get lucky watching this one because women will see a fat Stallone and realize that you aren't so bad. Safe for the in-laws and the believable premise is a bit disturbing, so I give it a high Se7en factor.
Cop Land (1997)
