Cop Land (1997)
No One Is Above The Law.
From an actor I haven’t seen in a long time to an actor I see all the time - even if it’s not because of a new release. Even though a lot of the time it is. In fact, the cast of this one is more advanced then I even imagined at first - with a metric ton of faces you’ll recognize, probably. Almost as many recognizable faces as there are badges, but that perhaps should be expected. Tonight, we go across the bridge and check out Cop Land.
The plot here is a weave and swerve kind of plot - it might be simple on the surface of a blurb description - a bunch of cops got themselves a place to live, and now Internal Affairs are snooping around whispers of wrongdoing - but that surface goes a bit deeper. You’ll get to dive into some slight race relations stuff, some good cop bad cop, moral issues amongst said cops, and even the divide between a sheriff and an actual cop (the movies words, not mine). As far as a thriller goes, it doesn’t do much to really hide the shady elements - it’s pretty obvious whose the bad guys in this movie, even if there are morals both good and bad involved with most of the more shady dealings. Most the thrill section comes in how the local sheriff is going to end up processing all the information he’s given and if or when he’s going to take some sort of action on it. It plays this up pretty darn well - but I really give it the bonus points for making even the worse actions feel pretty grey-zone instead of purely black and white. By the end of the day, it’s a helpful reminder that people are just people, no matter what outfit they wear - but I can also see where the more uppity crowd will be offended over portrayals or try to use it as some banner-pole about how “all cops are bad” like they got some kind of police baton up their butt at some point.
The point I’m making is as a movie narrative, it works well. The story feels pretty well grounded in reality, and most if not all the hooks make sense. Part of this is undoubtedly due to the heck of a jam-packed cast they have. Stallone, Patrick, De Niro - this thing is packing more heat then the standard SWAT unit. They do a fine job - as I’m sure you would expect - and the movie’s only the better for it. It’s not just them though, even some of the side characters knock it out of the park, like the EMT at the start who isn’t having any of that funny business. If anything, you could say the weakest link in the acting might be some of the parts where De Niro and pall are absolutely hamming it up big time for the role - but I’m not exactly sure if that’s bad or not. There tends to be a thing with cops stuff where there’s always that character or two whose drastically over flamboyant - most of the time the precinct Sergeant or something - and at the same time it doesn’t feel out of the realm of belief. If anything, it perhaps just makes a moment or two seem a bit more humorous than probably intended. Regardless, the drama side of this movie depends on the actors doing a good job to pull you in, and despite most not really even having much in terms of character development or perhaps even story - despite motivations being known or not - you want to see where it’s going and what’s coming next.
Of course, costumes in a straight non fiction type of movie aren’t going to fulfill every desire. Yes, they look like they should and are believable. Yes, they contain a bunch of continuity like wounds that stick around. The thing is, despite all the costumes being good it’s most likely barely going to be noticed since it’s all just so normal. That said, the actors do a pretty good job of looking different enough in their normal attire that you won’t be getting them confused at all. Body language, including facial expressions, are well done here as well - again, the acting is pretty on point. Slight shuffles, an accusatory glance, or perhaps even the complete lack of convincing emotion are all displayed well here, sometimes to such an extent you really wonder how anyone in a situation would believe it as anything other than completely suspicious - but then again, perhaps that’s the point.
It all starts with a wedding.
Effects department gets a little to show off here, with some minor injuries here and there, a few car wrecks, and a bunch of shooting towards the end. Violence certainly exists in this movie - but none of it is really extremely graphic. Still, squibs get popping and it looks good. While on the topic of effects however, I would like to point something weird out. Now, mind you I got a DVD copy of this through the old rental-bot, so quality isn’t exactly highest grade (especially when on a over-HD device), but more noticeable than any of the grain that might pop up to make it a bit fuzzy around the edges was the sometimes strange feeling flow. I don’t necessarily know if it was in fact a weird thing going on with framerate - perhaps the player decided to speed some things up, maybe the disc was messed up, maybe it was just playing normal and my eyes were weird, I don’t know. It seems at times like perhaps this thing was shot for TV instead of normal movies - for those who aren’t aware, movies are usually shot in about 24 and TV tends to hit 30 - or at least in the case of older things. Here, sometimes things feel like they are moving slightly faster and smoother than I’d expect, almost as though I was playing the movie ever so slightly at a higher speed (which I wasn’t to the best of my knowledge). Eventually I didn’t notice it at all - leading me to believe perhaps it was just my imagination - and it never really hindered the movie at all, but was still a weird occurrence regardless.
Audio was done well - balancing here was never an issue. I do admit that the soundtrack isn’t exactly kicking it out of the park with those sweet earworm beats, but it does it’s job perfectly fine regardless. I will note the tinnitus effect towards the end, which in turn made me actually think that it was my actual tinnitus acting up until I lifted the headphones up to check and it went away. Well played movie, well played. Actors deliver lines quite well - as if you didn’t already figure that from earlier statements about how it’s quite the well done stuff. If a line is supposed to be emotional, they do what they can to put some of that behind it. Our lead “bad” is probably the least convincing at emotions, but it’s also something that feels more intentional than not.
Really, it all plays out nicely. Perhaps some things don’t feel as necessary, but nothing in it really feels wasted either. The little romance plot of Stallone’s character pining for the girl he saved a long time ago doesn’t feel wholly required at all. It does build out his characters back story a little bit, but it doesn’t really impact the plot majorly outside of a little fear of retribution. There’s also a lot of plot threads here - the main characters, at least two bad guys, Internal Affairs, and the main’s friend who could best be thought of as a grey zone. Throughout that, some threads are cut short, but it’s honestly not confusing at all given how it’s pretty straight forward in most it’s presentation. The thriller side of things certainly gets a bit of a hit with how the movie is put together, leaving most the thrills to come sloley from danger presented long run. The crime and drama side of the movie however, shine like a nicely polished PD badge.
Happy customer.
In the end, this is a good one for people who like dramas with a lot of moral grey zones where good things can be bad as much as bad things being good. There’s certainly some philosophy and thoughtful bits in here for those who like to think, which is usually something I feel puts in a good word for a drama. For those looking for a thriller, there’s probably a lot better options. For those looking for a cop flick, it’s not terrible although honestly I don’t have an exact degree in cop movies. It’s not much of an action movie, but never really claimed to be. In the end, this isn’t a bad flick to check out, with a nice cast who does a good job and a world that feels quite rooted and believable.