Cop Land (2004, DVD)

Let's face it. Copland is a movie that has one hell of a great cast: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, and Robert DeNiro. It's not something you see every day.

Unfortunately, the movie was largely ignored at the box office and by the audiences which is strange given the talent involved. But it perhaps provided a little more strength in Sly Stallone's fading career and proved that he's still an actor before an action star.

Copland is the story of small town schlub Freddy Heflin (Stallone), a wannabe NYPD cop sidelined by a bad ear infection. The disability is the result of saving a long ago crush of his (Annabella Sciorra), who unfortunately is married to an adulterous NYPD cop (Peter Berg) with a streak of a conscience. Heflin is still a cop and sheriff of a man made town in New Jersey, owned and operated really by the NYPD police including chief Ray Donelan (Harvey Keitel), who is the head. Their comfortable home settings is really a front of crime and corruption even involving ties to the mafia. It's up to Internal Affairs agent Moe Tilden (Robert DeNiro) to finally pull the blanket from Donelan's misdeeds and expose him for the crook that he is. It doesn't help that among Donelan's goons include the likes of Jack (Robert Patrick) and Frank (Arthur Nascarella-a veteran NYPD cop playing a character on the wrong side of the law).

Copland is an entertaining movie but under Mangold's sluggish direction, the story never quite sets on foot what it intended to do, which is really more of a character driven thriller than anything else. As the film centers on Freddy, who must grapple with his admiration for the NYPD, or to uphold the law. He has to make the right decision when things really heat up. What's interesting is that Stallone is part of an ensemble and doesn't eliminate dozens of bad guys a la Rambo. He's a sadsack with a gut and a surly demeanor. As if he's permanently in sleep mode without missing a beat. I hand it to Stallone, he manages to gain even presence even while acting alongside DeNiro and Keitel. His Heflin is restrained and almost sad to the point of a man of unrealized dreams.

Ray Liotta, with his trademark sneer and "speech anger" (in nearly every movie the actor shouts at the top of his lungs with his eyes burning), provides the movie's sympathy. He's an NYPD cop and fully aware and involved in the corruption that goes on, but he also admires Freddy for what he's doing and knows that his involvement is just as bad as his co-workers. Harvey Keitel isn't given a strong characterization and his character really isn't hateful. He provides the basics of a three dimensional character but often I found his character to be overshadowed by the ensemble. A particular standout though, as Donelan's lackey is Robert Patrick as a very unlikable and obnoxious cop. The audience was clapping when his character gets his just desserts. Patrick proves that he is a capable character actor who tries to provide as much impact as he can in each scene.

DeNiro, with his Barney Miller-ish haircut and wardrobe is given a few key scenes. He injects as much life as he can but he's a main character devoid of the real meat in the scenes due to his minimum screen time. As said, a lot of the pacing in the film feels sluggish and off tune. A drawback is that some of the performances don't seem fully realized or underdone. It's like a short order cook making a burger without fully cooking it. There could be more to it but it's given as much as it has by the cook. Much of the film feels like it's trodding from one event to another. The movie's ensemble cast is impressively acted with the likes of Michael Rapaport (who engages the plot), Cathy Moriarty, Peter Berg, Janeane Garofalo, Arthur Nascarella, John Spencer, and Noah Emmerich among them. Director James Mangold makes this film in the spirit of a Scorcese film, sans the vibrance that accompanies it.

I would recommend Copland as a rental worth to see the cast alone. There's nothing extraordinary about it, but it's a movie that you should see if you're a fan of the main cast.