Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert
DeNiro, Peter Berg, Janeane Garofalo, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport, Annabella
Sciorra. (R, 105 min.)
Casting is everything, and the casting of Stallone - playing way against type - as
the powerless hayseed sheriff in Cop Land is nothing short of inspired. His performance
here singlehandedly eliminates any creeping notions that the revelatory actor/writer
behind Rocky is a long gone, faded shadow. It's not, obviously, and Cop Land replaces
unpleasant memories of cinematic and personal flubs like Oscar and Stop! or My Career
Will Die! (which was, you may remember, retitled Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot! for
domestic release) with newfound luster. All kidding aside, Stallone is dynamite,
his readings clear and sharp and never unintentionally mumbled, his frame startlingly
altered by the 40 extra pounds he gained for the role, and his acting dead-on. In
this sophomore effort from Sundance wunderkind Mangold (Heavy), Stallone is Freddy
Heflin, sheriff of Garrison, New Jersey, a tiny hamlet just a nightstick's throw
from New York City. Garrison is a village populated almost entirely by NYPD cops
and their families, and Heflin, a small-town stooge who became a local hero when
he rescued a girl from drowning decades ago, has been Garrison's patsy for the last
10 years. Due to partial hearing loss incurred during that hour of glory, Heflin
was 4-F for NYPD duty, though he still worships the officers that he purports to
police. When a young hotshot officer, Murray "Superboy" Babitch (Rapaport),
goes off one night and accidentally kills two joyriding black teens, his uncle, Ray
Donlan (Keitel), the unofficial boss of "Cop Land," decides to fake his
nephew's death and thereby avert an unavoidable public relations scandal. Hiding
Babitch in Garrison, Donlan and his cronies dodge visits from Internal Affairs Detective
Moe Tilden (DeNiro) and struggle to keep the scam under wraps. The less revealed
about Cop Land's story here, the better, though it should be obvious that Mangold's
take on the age-old question of "Who's policing the police?" is a fresh
one. The whole notion of a sheriff with long-quashed dreams absentmindedly policing
a town full of men he believes to be his superiors is novel in the extreme, and Mangold
grabs the idea, runs with it, and never looks back. Cop Land is packed with bravura
performances, from comedienne Garofalo's fresh-off-the-reality-boat deputy to Sciorra's
embittered, battered officer's wife, and the range displayed is at times breathtaking.
Fans of the Marty-esque Heavy might note in advance that Cop Land is at times a violent,
bloody film, as befits its subject matter (and with DeNiro, Keitel, and Liotta on
the bill, that should be pretty obvious to begin with), but the gore only parallels
the spiraling levels of fear and betrayal inherent in the story. It's a powerful,
tightly wound ball of confusion, greed, revenge, and redemption - an emotional sucker
punch that'll have you looking in your rear-view for days afterward.
4.0 stars
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