Years go by and I watch movies a second or third time, making me wonder why it isn’t more highly regarded, didn’t do better at the box office. James Mangold’s Cop Land, originally released in 1997, is exactly that kind of film. Roger Ebert’s review, for instance, damns the film with half praise but aside from one or two things I disagree with him and the conclusion he made.
To me, the gold nugget is Sylvester Stallone. I know, I can hardly believe it either. Other than Demolition Man, which I think was more impressive to me for the science fiction angles and Wesley Snipes, and the first Rocky Sly’s had a great career but never shown us quality acting. In Cop Land, though, I’m reminded of Tom Cruise playing the grey haired bad guy in Collateral, that Stallone’s heavy-lidded, slumbering physicality is perfect to the role.
Some not-so-nice New York City cops have finagled a loophole in the residency requirements and set up a little enclave in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge, houses with nice yards and quiet streets. Being not so nice, though, generally catches up to movie characters and indeed happens here. Plus, they totally underestimate Stallone’s sheriff, condescendingly assuming because he’s deaf in one ear and not able to qualify for the NYPD that he’s not a good cop.
And maybe at the start of the film he isn’t. That growth is the driving arc here. Mangold’s made a couple of good ones since, Identity and Girl, Interrupted. He wrote and directed this movie, to me the messy bits around the edge give the picture life and energy. Mangold has two releases this year according to IMDB: Joaquin Phoenix in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line (November 18) and modern western 3:10 to Yuma (no announced production or release dates), definitely looking forward to them.
Lots of star power here, Stallone is the sleeper in the crew: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel (always a good bad guy), Ray Liotta (twitchy, line crossing), Janeane Garafolo, Robert Patrick (give him a mustache and a short haircut and he’s much badder than in X Files), Annabella Sciorra, Peter Berg, Michael Rappaport, Cathy Moriarty, John Spencer, Malik Yoba, Edie Falco, Debbie Harry and Method Man.
definitely recommended
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