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James Mangold's Cop Land has enough star power to draw millions, but the real power lies in its smoldering script. It's a tale of regret, redemption and corruption anchored by an awesome lead performance from Sylvester Stallone. He plays Freddy Heflin, a sheriff of a district just outside New York City, where almost all the inhabitants are cops, looking for a sanctuary to build their families away from the grease and grime they put up with every day. Because of this, and an accident in his early youth that rendered him unable to join the force himself, his authority is subtly undermined by the town full of cops that he polices. This is Stallone's best work, playing a broken down guy who's had it with life. When a rookie cop called Superboy (Michael Rapaport) accidentally commits double homicide, the crime is covered up by his veteran uncle (Harvey Keitel) and his gang of bent up blue vests. It's a suspicious event that incites an investigation by Moe Tilden (Robert De Niro), and raises Stallone's desire to put things right, as well as more than a few painful memories of the woman he loved (Annabella Sciorra) who married one of Keitel's goons (Peter Berg). It's a dirty kaleidoscope of many characters and subplots weaving in and out, but held together like superglue by the outstanding screenplay, penned by Mangold as well. At times the characterizations are so vivid that we feel like we're in a western. Keitel is the picture of evil as a guy who's justified his crooked actions for so long that he really believes he's doing right, which makes him very dangerous. Ray Liotta, in the best performance of the piece, plays a disgraced ex cop with a fiery temper and a few bones to pick with Keitel himself, as well as a flawed, cowardly side. The actors chow down on Mangold's delicious, rich dialogue and keep you locked to the screen. There's nice work from Robert Patrick, Janeane Garofalo, Noah Emmerich, Cathy Moriarty, John Spencer and Arthur Nascarella as well.
score 9/10
NateWatchesCoolMovies 17 August 2015
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3299376/ |
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1-12-2019 05:01:58
