By Marc S. Sanders
You need look no further than the HBO series The Sopranos to see that the state of New Jersey is often regarded as a red headed stepchild in comparison to the empires of crime found in New York. In fact, two years before that series debuted, many of the varied cast members (Edie Falco, Frank Vincent, Robert Patrick, Annabella Sciorra, and Arthur J Nascarella) appeared in writer/director James Mangold’s second film Cop Land, which carried the same kind of regards for the two thirds of the known Tri State area. Tony Soprano always had to surrender to Johnny Sack and his crew if you know what I mean. There’s Jersey…but then there is New York!
A whose who of staple actors for New York crime and corruption films take center stage including Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, and Robert DeNiro. Yet, the spotlight belongs to Sylvester Stallone in what is arguably the most unsung and best role, next to Rocky Balboa, of his entire career.
Stallone portrays the pot-bellied schlub Freddy Heflin. He is the Sherrif of small-town Garrison, NJ where the cops who work within the city, across the bridge, reside comfortably here. Freddy aspired to be one of those celebrated officers dressed in pressed blue uniforms, but he could not get past the physical due to a loss of hearing in his right ear. He got that when he was kid and rescued someone from a sinking car that crashed in the river. Perhaps Freddy wished that never happened. Maybe his life would have been much more colorful like these New Yorkers. I can understand the poor guy’s self-reflection.
An internal affairs investigator named Moe Tilden (another of many convincing New York variations for Robert DeNiro) brings reasonable suspicions of corruption to Freddy’s attention. How do these guys live so well based on the salary they earn on the police force? Too often they have been connected with reputed mobsters, and incidents are quickly swept under the rug and kept quiet. It stands to reason that the cover ups they commit happen in the home state of Jersey, outside of Moe’s jurisdiction. Moe needs Freddy to quickly offer up anything he knows or witnesses.
In particular, the leader of these guys, Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel), might have something to do with the disappearance of his nephew Murray (Michael Rapaport) who was regarded as a young hero cop but is now at the center of a shooting incident gone wrong while driving across the bridge. Donlan and gang fake a suicide for the kid, but with no body turning up in the river, it’s not so far-fetched to believe that perhaps he’s still alive and hiding out somewhere.
Cop Land works like an Us vs Them observation. Freddy is the pawn for these guys to keep up appearances while this friendly town operates on other levels. He’s the guy they can rely on to look the other way and mind his own business. What I like about Mangold’s script is the dilemma with Stallone’s character. Who could ever intimidate Sylvester Stallone after Rocky II? He’s one of the biggest muscle men in film history. Yet here he is the weakling. Most importantly, he’s utterly believable in this role that’s nowhere in the same league as Rambo or Rocky.
The cast is as magnificent as you would expect. Harvey Keitel looks like the family man but he’s got other nefarious ideas bubbling under his exterior. Robert Patrick fills a role as Keitel’s heavy in a frazzled departure from his anal-retentive evilness that premiered in Terminator 2. Ray Liotta is the second star of this picture sharing some good scenes with Stallone. You’d think Liotta was the more seasoned actor even though Stallone came on the scene a few decades before. Liotta is playing a guy who maybe once lived with a good soul but is now checkered and weary. How I wish Ray Liotta had more significant screen time during his film career.
The setting works like an intimidating character here. The other supporting players flesh out the environment of Stallone’s sheep herding through a bed of wolves. Those actors consist of Cathy Moriarty, Annabella Schiorra, Peter Berg, John Spencer and of course Frank Vincent who is a regular in these kinds of pictures.
Cop Land teeters on what Martin Scorsese or Sidney Lumet might have done with this picture. It only falls short due to a wrap up ending with an unsurprising shootout. What works so well as a pressure cooker crime drama devolves into blood and bullets and that is a letdown because it’s an easy way out. In Lumet’s hands for example, the film would have taken advantage of at least an additional half hour to drive the piece into the arena of the public court system (a welcome opportunity for another all-star cameo from the likes of Al Pacino or Sean Penn. I think the film would have been even smarter for doing so. The avenue that James Mangold takes with his film is not terrible. It just feels a little unrewarding or worthy of everything that was wisely executed before.
Cop Land should be seen for the dilemmas it hinges on and then for the various acting scenes among this terrific all-star cast. Usually, actors will boast that they got to share screen time with Robert DeNiro. I’m sure guys like Robert Patrick and Michael Rapaport place those experiences high on their mantles. However, I bet all of these guys said what an honor it was to share the screen with Sylvester Stallone in a performance uncharacteristic of his usual criteria.
James Mangold’s Cop Land is a terrific crime drama.
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 