Cop Land
1997 Directed by James Mangold
Synopsis
No One Is Above The Law.
Freddy Heflin (Stallone) is a simple, small-town Sheriff who had big dreams of becoming a New York City cop before a heroic deed left him deaf in one ear. Though he saved the life of the woman he loves (Sciorra), she went on to marry someone else. But everything in Freddy's life is about to change after he uncovers evidence of a murder, fakes suicide and police tampering.
Cast
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I'm starting to become a huge James Mangold fan. Haven't seen much of his work, but I've been very impressed with what I have seen. I like how he likes to switch up different styles and genres with different films. You wouldn't expect him tofollow up this film with stuff like Identity and Walk the Line and 3:10 to Yuma and even the new X-Men Wolverine movie. This film is a good example of his strengths as a director.
This film isn't much special, or at least it could have been just that. In anyone else's hands, this would be just another generic cop film and at it's core that's what it really is, but he manages to add his…
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A life of quiet desperation hangs like a pall in the hangdog eyes of Sheriff Freddy. A soft-spoken big lug whose stalled career in law enforcement entails little more than sorting out refuse bag disputes and directing the traffic through the sleepy suburbia of 'Cop Land'.
He later complained that the role of lovable loser Freddy in James Mangold's cop-western hurt his career (and not his subsequent films, Get Carter and D-Tox?), but Sylvester Stallone's soulful performance was rightly praised and was considered a brave departure from his usual repertoire of action movie heroes. Although Freddy isn't actually a million miles away from that other amiable dope, Rocky Balboa in the first Rocky film.
If the film has an implausible…
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Watched this directors cut on blu ray for the first time last night and was blown away yet again by the clarity of the picture and sound. A film full of cliches,it is nonetheless a riveting and well acted story. Featuring some of the best modern day "proper" actors in the guise of Robert De Niro,Ray Liotta,Harvey Kietel and a stunningly understated performance from Sylvester Stallone. Putting on weight and abandoning his muscle bound macho man image to play a demure smalltown sheriff in New Jersey he cuts a sorry sight. The controversial subject of police corruption is the focus of a well paced multifaceted story written and directed by the impressive James Mangold.
Garrison,NJ is the "cop land "… -
Film #30 of No Rewatch November
I'm the first person to fight in defense of Sylvester Stallone as an actor, and the last person still fighting, bloodied and bruised, but that doesn't mean that I think Stallone is good in everything. Cop Land is a perfect example of a film that Stallone had no business being in. He can play aloof and happy no problem, but aloof and brooding, the man simply can't do it. Any of the other three actors on the poster could have easily played Stallone's role and probably would've brought the thunder as well. I'm not sure if different casting would have completely elevated this movie to masterpiece status, but different casting certainly would've been an improvement.
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A crime drama starring Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Harvey Keitel, directed by the guy who's doing the new Wolverine movie... yeah, sure, I'll give it a shot!
As it transpires, I found Cop Land to be a very interesting film. I guess purely because it stars Sly as a small town sheriff, where most of the inhabitants are bent coppers, I thought it would be a faster, more explosive action movie. It was anything but!
I don't think it's particularly well acted. Not that anybody is bad in it! De Niro, Keitel, Liotta, Robert Patrick; it would be wrong to say they "phoned it in", because they were all very comfortable in their role. But maybe that's…
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WOW!. What a movie!.
And what a performance by Sly. A career high. And not just his career! An awesome, beautiful and brutal performance. It goes to show what a brilliant character actor he is.
This is proper film making. With a proper cast to match.
Straight into my All Time Top 10 list. With bells on.
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Although it's nothing new to the genre, its worth seeing solely for the cast and their acting. Although, I think Stallone kind of ruins it for me.
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Good story, and a terrific turn from Sylvester Stallone.
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I can remember before I first watched this that I had great reservations about this film. My main concern lied in Sylvester Stallone being the main character in a film that was more about the characters and the drama rather than being action driven. While Stallone had produced some brilliant turns in early films such as First Blood and Rocky, I just worried that having appeared in shockers like Oscar, Rocky V and Stop! Or My Mum Will Shoot he would fail to produce the goods in this.
How glad I was to therefore be proved wrong. Stallone is one of the main draws in this fantastic crime thriller looking at the power the police force can have and the…
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Some people might call it just another one of those corrupt cop exposés. They'd be right. But what makes Cop Land different from the others is how it's a lot more hate-incurring towards the topic. I was mostly impressed with Stallone's performance; he showed his capability of playing a more responsible role very well.
I did have my own ball ache though. It's got four very known actors, but perhaps De Niro, Liotta and Keitel didn't get as much screen time as they deserved. Or they weren't given the biggest rollercoaster ride of parts to play.
It was still alright.
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Love Stallone's work in this, along with the rest of the movie. Made me more excited for Wolverine.
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Freddy Heflin (Sylvester Stallone) is the sheriff of Garrison, New Jersey; peaceful and quiet, suburban community that is located directly across the river from Manhattan. Garrison is populated by an unusually large number of New York City policemen; and after a controversial incident involving a hero cop, Sherriff Heflin slowly discovered that his town is a front for organised crime and police corruption.
Cop Land is an excellent, gritty police drama that’s very much underrated. The plot is slow paced but it’s never for a minute boring. It’s an intriguing story about that fine line between right and wrong and justifying the choices we make in life. There is also a strong “us vs. them” mentality within the police force…
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A crime drama starring Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Harvey Keitel, directed by the guy who's doing the new Wolverine movie... yeah, sure, I'll give it a shot!
As it transpires, I found Cop Land to be a very interesting film. I guess purely because it stars Sly as a small town sheriff, where most of the inhabitants are bent coppers, I thought it would be a faster, more explosive action movie. It was anything but!
I don't think it's particularly well acted. Not that anybody is bad in it! De Niro, Keitel, Liotta, Robert Patrick; it would be wrong to say they "phoned it in", because they were all very comfortable in their role. But maybe that's…
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Very under-appreciated film. Stallone gives the second best performance of his career.
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Miles better than I remembered. this is brilliant. Stallone is really great in this too. Up there with goodfellas and other Scorsese style dramas. Mangold done a wee cracker here.