Cop Land Movie Review

Cop Land (1997)

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Written by: James Mangold
Directed by: James Mangold
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Peter Berg, janenae Garofalo, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport, Noah Emmerich, John Spencer, Frank Vincent, Malik Yoba, Edie Falco
Rated: R
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Plot
The Sheriff of a suburban New Jersey community, populated by New York City police officers, slowly discovers the town is a front for mob connections and corruption.

Verdict
It's a lot of story for the run time, and Stallone does a great job in a subdued role. The problem is that Stallone's character's motivations are vague. Is he a fan boy of the NYPD cops or bitter over his life's failures? Without a clear crime, we know he's chasing corrupt cops but why is he bothered by them now? This needs a better inciting incident and to do more showing character motivations. I want to like this, but the story is a bit muddy and the movie suffers for it.
It depends.

Review
The cast is stacked, and Stallone's departure from big action movies to drama was publicized as was the weight he gained for the role.

A voice over sets the premise, detailing how a group of New York cops have found a loophole to live in New Jersey. Through that they can't be investigated as Internal Affairs can't legally conduct investigations outside of the state.

Freddy Heflin (Sylvester Stallone) is the sheriff in this New Jersey town. He can't be an NYPD cop due to a hearing impairment. He's settled for this role, giving the New York cops living there a wide berth. He seems like their errand boy, that or just a starstruck fan.

Sylvester Stallone plays Freddy Heflin

The first introduction to these cops is officer Babitch (Michael Rapaport) leaving a party and getting sideswiped, then believing the car shoots at him before returning fire. The cops that arrive on the scene can't find a gun with officer Rucker (Robert Patrick) planting one to get his buddy out of trouble. They're led by Donlan (Harvey Keitel).

These cops are indicated as corrupt from the beginning. Their uneasy alliance is starting to crack, and then we have Freddy. He readily agrees to let Figgis (Ray Liotta) live with him when his house burns down, and it seems like it's his buddies that did it. Internal Affairs officer Tilden (Robert De Niro) asks Freddy for help, but he refuses thinking they're his friends.

Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone play Moe Tilden, Freddy Heflin

I don't know what triggers it exactly, and I wish the movie gave Freddy a moment. I don't think he suddenly realized these guys don't respect him, but he sees that this group of cops he saw as heroes are willing to kill people they claim as friends. He investigates on his own to confirm his suspicions.

With this cast, I want to like the movie but it meanders. This focuses on Freddy's connection to side characters without pushing the plot forward quickly enough. The heart of the mystery is the initial cover up, but that's a bit vague. This would work better with a clear definable crime upon which the movie can hang the plot. It just doesn't have the drive. Freddy seems like he was happy to turn a blind eye or didn't imagine NYPD cops could be corrupt. Either way this needs a breakthrough moment when they use and abuse him and he sees reality. Freddy has never seemed all that capable, and he gets this redemption arc when he puts the real cops to task. It's a bit too much of an action movie with Freddy on a rampage at the end.

John Spencer, Robert Patrick, Harvey Keitel play Leo Crasky, Jack Rucker, Ray Donlan

The problem is that this invokes corruption with nothing specific. These guys are hiding various unspoken crimes. Since we don't know the what, all we know is that they planted a gun. Freddy's relationship with the cops is never quite established. Is he a subservient fan? In awe? Or is he bitter than he couldn't make it as an NYPD cop? While Stallone does a great job with what he's given, the character easily could have been the local big shot that never panned out, trying to play at being NYPD. That would have been nice depth. The loss of hearing angle needs more. Clearing up these plot points would give the movie direction. I want to like it, but it feels much longer than it is, in part due to how much story this crams into the run time.