Cop Land

Many people see Silvester Stallone as just another action movie hero who can't do anything but that. However, unlike other action movie stars, (Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, Seigal etc..) Stallone made his breakthrough with a movie that wasn't really an action movie at heart. He gave forth an excellent performance in Rocky and set a standard for himself that just seemed to fall and fall as his career progressed. He starred in cheesy action movie role after cheesy action movie role until finally people began associating him with nothing but that. Now finally, over twenty years after Rocky, Stallone comes back and shows people that he can be more than an action hero if he wants to. Stallone's performance in Cop Land shows vulnerability, anger, admiration, fear and many other emotions that were rarely present in any of his movie except Rocky. I'm sorry to say that I was one of the many people who took Cop Land for granted when it came to theaters simply because I didn't believe Stallone could do anything but cheesy action movies. Today, I finally rented it out of pure curiosity and was shocked at how far I was from the truth.

Cop Land is a very well made film about a small town that corrupt New York City cops have made their haven. Stallone plays the sheriff of the town, Freddy Heflin, who wanted to be NYPD but couldn't due to a hearing disorder. When Murray 'Superboy' Babitch (Michael Rapaport) shoots and kills two drugged up teenagers when he mistakes a steering wheel club for a gun in a high speed chase, his friends come in to help him. But their far-fetched plan starts to come down on them when Moe Tilden (Robert De Niro) from Internal Affairs begins investigating Superboy's alleged suicide. Things begin to go seriously wrong from here and Freddy is caught right in the middle. I thought that Stallone would have been upstaged by all his great co-stars like Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro, but I was wrong. Stallone comes out perfectly as an aging cop with smashed dreams faced with a moral dilemma he doesn't know how to solve. In many ways he idolizes these big time New York cops but he knows that many of the things they do are wrong. In many ways Stallone's performance is far superior to that of his co-stars as he exhibits more depth and character development than any of them.

Cop Land is a somewhat unknown gem that many people overlooked for the wrong reasons. If you have any interest in the genre I would highly recommend it. Cop Land is probably the second best police murder/crime drama I've seen, only behind L.A. Confidential. At times the story has something to be desired and unlike L.A. Confidential is drags in some parts but the fantastic performances by every cast member more than make up for these minor flaws. I give Cop Land 8 stars out of 10.

This movie was always going to be interesting because it involves so many sides to the one story. There is an excellent balance established between all the factions involved in the case of a missing/dead police officer.

The characters for this sort of movie are very original, and their flaws are revealed just as much, if not more so than their strengths. This has to be Sylvester Stallone's career highlight, and goes to show that his talents are not necessarily best for action movies. And De Niro's understated but excellently played "Moe Tilden" leaves you wishing he was featured more. The scenes between these two characters are worth the viewing alone. Harvey Keitel as well, plays an excellent cop/quasi-crime boss.

It's a little soppy at times but overall a stand-out in it's genre.

Mangold's second film, the corruption drama "Cop Land" stars Sylvester Stallone as Freddy Heflin, the much-denigrated sheriff of tiny Garrison, New Jersey, a community which - thanks to a technicality - is populated almost entirely by members of the New York City Police Department.

When young cop Murray "Superboy" Babitch (Michael Rapaport) becomes embroiled in a controversial shootout which leaves two black youths dead, he apparently commits suicide rather than face the wrath of an official investigation. In reality, however, he flees to safety back home in Garrison. In the wake of the controversial events, NYPD Internal Affairs lieutenant Moe Tilden (Robert DeNiro) arrives in Garrison to uncover the truth. He attempts to enlist Freddy to watch the watchmen, including Superboy's uncle, veteran cop Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel); coked-out Gary Figgis (Ray Liotta); and Joey Randone (Peter Berg), the husband of the woman (Annabella Sciorra) Freddy loved and lost. A rich, complex film about redemption, "Cop Land"'s portrayal of Freddy's struggles to prove his worth mirrors Stallone's own return to thoughtful, character-driven drama after years of vacuous action roles. Like Freddy, he faces an uphill battle, fighting for respectability in the face of a superb cast including Janeane Garofalo, Cathy Moriarty and Paul Calderon.

I didn't really know what to expect from "Cop Land".

You have some expectations when actors like Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel star in this movie - but could Stallone be the quiet Sheriff? The answer is yes, Stallone did well in this movie, he showed that he isn't just an action star, he is a great actor.

"Cop Land" had a nice story, but I think it had more potential. The movie could have lasted for 20-30 minutes more. It was a nice movie anyway, I will rate it 7/10.

Sylvester Stallone is excellent in this slow-moving, absorbing film about cops on the take. Sly goes through what must be one of the longest slow-burns in movie history as the dumb, passive sheriff who only has his job thanks to the grace of crooked cop Harvey Keitel and protects him and his gang because of it. When it finally dawns on him, as it was inevitable it would, that he's been played for a fool, the results are explosive. It's well written, with a strong storyline, great dialogue and excellent performances all round (especially from Robert de Niro, Keitel and Ray Liotta). But it stands or falls on Stallone's portrayal of the central character, and he rises surprisingly majestically to the occasion. A very restrained, sensitive performance in a cracking good film.