Der Cop

Extremely entertaining film about a cop (Woods) who tries to hunt down a criminal who is murdering women downtown in an apparently random order. I saw this on AMC one Friday night, very late, and I was blown away. Great acting, particularly by James Woods, and just a very fine film with a good fade-to-black ending.

It's sort of dumb and predictable sometimes, but it's one of the best endings I can remember in recent years.

4/5 stars.

• John Ulmer

There are times that this feels like a TV Movie. In fact, if it were not for the presence of James Woods that is all this would be, a good TV movie. As it is, Woods acts his socks off without overdoing it. He manages to pull this up to a much higher standard, very watchable stuff, in fact. There is nothing really ground shaking in the script and, to be truthful, it kind of gets a bit lost at a couple of points. Like others have pointed out, the dark twisted aspect of the original book do not quite come across to the screen, but nevertheless is a very passable transition. In summary, not one to watch for your main film on a Saturday night, but certainly worth a look on any other night.

Sometime ago a sadistically violent novel written by James Ellroy was published under the title 'Blood on The Moon.' Having read the book, I was most surprised to see the story up on the silver screen under the marquee of " Cop." The tragic tale was so woefully violent, I wondered how it's stark terror and black suspense would transferred to the Big Screen. However, I was pleased when I saw that James Wood would be the hero and it would be directed by James B. Harris. Woods plays detective Sgt. Lloyd Hopkins a hard-as-nails police officer seemly obsessed with solving an unsolved series of murders dating back years. Seemingly at a dead-end, he is frustrated and on the verge of giving it up, when a ray of hope inspires him to continue. As he does, he enlist the aid of Kathleen McCarthy (Lesley Ann Warren) a Feminist poet and his police mentor Dutch Peltz (Charles Durning) who is in line to become a police Captain. Despite his unorthodox methods, Hopkins gets results even if it means stepping on toes and challenging his superiors. The movie is powerfully dark, suspenseful and dotted with terrifying scenes which are not for the faint of heart. Still any Woods' fan is sure to enjoy the power and skill with the main actor and I for one look forward to this film becoming a milestone for Woods. Excellent rendition of the book and if one wants to peek under the ambulance sheet, I suggest you read the novel. ****

I thought the story line for cop was excellent, which isn't surprising given that it's based on James Elroy's Blood on the Moon. I haven't read this but I really enjoyed the actual story line itself. I feel like the execution of the movie lets the story line down in many ways. There are parts where it is brooding and tense, and then there are parts that are plain ridiculous (such as Llyod picking up a girl straight out of a murder him and his partner committed!). The moments that are a bit ridiculous detract from the overall tone and quality of what could have been an excellent movie. What keeps the movie alive and gives it credibility is James Woods. He is spectacular overall and saves this from becoming substandard. He is unpredictable and at times mesmerizing. The opening scene and closing scene are both really memorable moments of him and it's a pity the rest of the film doesn't match up to his quality. I do have to mention that some of the support acting was also strong enough to hold up and make the film more credible. Lesley Ann Warren and Charles Durning were both solid as the slightly creepy Kathleen and the stereotypical cop partner Dutch. I was going to rate this a 6 out of 10 in my mind as it approached the last few minutes. However the final scene itself was so unexpectedly clinical and enjoyable, that it merited another notch up the rating ladder. If you watch you will see for yourself.It just enhances the performance of James Woods and makes you regrettably realize that this movie could have been so much more.

If you want to watch a cool movie, I suggest you see it. James Woods did a great job as a hard egotistical cop out to solve a serial killing. Maybe it is like other cop thrillers, but this was made a while back before a lot of others. So, if you're not a 'critic' I'd say it's nothing short of intriguing. I came away saying "it was a good movie," a couple of times.