Review of Cop Land (1997) by Tyler C — 18 May 2010

Cop Land is written and directed by James Mangold and is assembled by a very talented ensemble cast including Sylvester Stallone,Robert De Niro,Harvey Keitel,Ray Liotta,Robert Patrick,and Michael Rapaport. The film is set in the fiction town of Garrison,NJ,which is a city across the Hudson River from NYC and is inhabited by a lot of cops who escape the tedious environment back in NYC. The sherrif of the town,Freddy Heflin (Sylvester Stallone),is a laid back underdog officer who is partially deaf in his right ear. He idolizes a pair of corrupt cops who actually have much more control over Garrison. However,the action gets started when a rookie cop kills two guys who pulled out a "gun" on him and the homicide is covered up by the corrupt cops.

Sylvester Stallone absolutely shines as Sherrif Freddy Heflin. It's one of those very few roles where he doesn't plays the macho action star and instead plays a more human underdog character. He really inhibts the character and he even gained 40 pounds for the role,too. Robert De Niro also does an impressive job as an IA officer even though he should have gotten more screen time for his character. Harvey Keitel,Ray Liotta,Robert Patrick,and Michael Rapaport also turn in good performances,too. Mangold definitely knew what he was doing when he assembled this ensemble cast and they all really make this film work.

Besides Stallone,James Mangold is the driving force behind this film. He takes his characters and does his best to not turn them into cliches and the dialogue he writes for the leads really makes these characters more interesting than they would have in the hands of a less capable director. If I were to complain about anything in the film,I'd say that Mangold uses the zoom-in on his actors a little too many times but that's about is because his script is very well-written.

I'd have to say,Cop Land is definitely one of the most underrated cop films I have seen. I wish it has a bigger audience because this is a movie that is a once in a lifetime chance to have so many of these great actors on screen together. So as simply I have said it,go see Cop Land as soon as you can.