Cop Land (1997)

hyped garbage

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

When I first watched this movie Sylvester Stallone"s actin career has been criticized to the point where many well known critics never gave any hopes that he could ever paly a serious role in a movie because of previous appearances in a couple of movies prior to the Rocky series, where the plots were really written for a academy award movies for all the categories the awards are given to one movie alone, if thee was aone for money making machine then well that's different.This movie was a complete turn around for his filming career, it was a serious role for Stallone and he played it well the plot cover corrupt cops, the life of a small sheriff and that of a Freddie and Liz platonic relationship along with an stellar cast including De Niro and other great actors the reviews werren't the greatest as the expectations were perhaps too high becaouse of the popular actors and the doubts that Stallone was able to act, So guess what I'm watching on this coll rainy Sunday morning in Boston MA. where spring hasn't sprung yet? yes you got it

In their only joint film Sylvester Stallone and Robert DeNiro star in Cop Land, a story about Garrison, New Jersey a small town where an overabundance of NYPD officers reside. So much so that the place is called Cop Land and they have the run of the place.As the official law in Cop Land the boys in blue have selected a wannabe. Sylvester Stallone who lost the hearing in one ear saving a drowning woman Annabella Sciorra is the police chief. Other than rescuing cats and issuing speeding tickets, but never to the NYPD residents of his town all Stallone does is stand in awe of the people who have the career he wanted.This whole set up comes tumbling down during a shootout at the George Washington Bridge where Michael Rappaport shoots two black teens, two stupid ones I might add who point something at him he mistakes for an automatic weapon. The NYPD citizens of Cop Land do what they can to cover up the incident, but it all blows up in their faces.Robert DeNiro who is an internal affairs detective has been looking into the cop residents of Garrison for some time. He tries to recruit Stallone, but Stallone has to see for himself what his 'friends' are really like.Stallone does one of the best acting jobs in his career. He most assuredly is not playing super hero Rambo or even working class hero Rocky in this. He's a flawed man physically and emotionally and the Garrison NYPD colony don't take him seriously at all. That's part of their downfall.Besides those already mentioned I would single out Harvey Keitel as the unofficial head of the Garrison cop colony. The more the story unfolds the more frightening Keitel becomes. Cathy Moriarty-Gentile as Keitel's abused wife, Ray Liotta who develops a conscience about what is going on and Frank Vincent as the police union head who is the ultimate target in the Cop Land probe from Internal Affairs.But it's Stallone who is the real revelation here. It's a different Sly than fans of Rocky and Rambo know.

Stallone, who I respect as an action star...is put into a role not suited for his best attributes. The movie wants to play a a suspense building melodrama but it comes off as a simple Stallone who cannot see the forest for his slow witlessness. Later in the film they try to spark his aggression as a 11th round 'Rocky' type of fulfillment but it just comes off as a weak cop who has has just enough to nudge him over the edge. Justice? Stallone ignores it for most of the film and suddenly finds his guiding light after days/weeks (movie time) of plodding along being a sheep. Overall: too slow a climax buildup, weak climax buildup, and trying to force a stud actor into a slow, plodding role which he cannot play. Just feels wrong.

In 1997 this was Director Mangold's first venture into big time Hollywood, and look at the cast, Robert De Niro, Liotta, Keitel, but the biggest surprise (even to himself) was Stallone. The latter plays the overweight, overlooked sap of a Sheriff, Freddy Heflin, who is charged with looking after 'Copland', being the homes and families of the the 'real' cops who work over the river.This is an excellent ensemble cast that really shines in their roles, and Stallone, as I said before, is a revelation. He piled on about 40lbs to play the part, so what we see is not the pumped-up, testosterone driven action man we have come to know and love, but a quieter, humbler, slightly "slow," kind-a bumbling character. Sad and ineffectual, he's barely tolerated by Donlan and his cronies, who's company he so desperately wants to keep. The story is tight and economical, the dialogue has the ring of authenticity to it, and there's a bitter-sweet romantic sub-plot between Freddy and one of the town's residents that works perfectly within the story. There's a scene where he's asked, by the woman he secretly loves, why he didn't marry, "All the best girls were taken," he replies, and you can practically see the big guy's heart breaking in two! The scene where Stallone and Sciorra finally come together in his home to the Springsteen songs "Stolen Car" and "Drive All Night" (both from his 1980 double album "The River") is both tender and beautifully judged. The acting too is uniformly brilliant. Keitel is all power corrupted (lets a fellow officer fall from a TV aerial who's been soiling his sheets at home), DeNiro is the driven investigator trying to bring truth back to the force and Liotta is a cocksure wise-ass cop - until an insurance scam fire-bombing he arranged goes drastically wrong. The sweating jerky Michael Rapaport as Babitch is superb too - suspecting that his life is not just screwed but in danger from his 'pals'. All are fabulous. But its Stallone's journey back to being a real man and doing what's right that keeps you glued.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.