Rating: 
Summary: ALMOST a triumph, but....
Review: When I first saw this flick I was pretty disappointed, but upon a second viewing it feels like the star power involved with the film lead people to expect too much from it. It was intended as Sylvester Stallone's return to serious films but, as it wasn't well received at the box office, Stallone's career has floundered in other lacklustre efforts. It reminded me of when Stallone did his most interesting work in the 70's, in F.I.S.T., Victory, Rocky (which many people don't realize he wrote) and even First Blood. He's almost unrecognizable here as Freddy Heflin, the Sheriff of a small Jersey town that's populated by New York City cops. Overweight and weary-looking, the Sheriff always wanted to be an NYC cop but an injury that left him partially deaf, while saving the life of Annabella Sciorra, prevents that. Harvey Keitel is a corrupt cop who makes Garisson NJ a safe haven for his fellow police officers. When his nephew 'Superboy', played by Michael Rappaport, gets involved in the shooting of two young black teenagers, there is a cover up by Kietel to avoid a possible racial incident. Robert DeNiro is the Internal Affairs officer investigating the scenario and Ray Liotta is a former colleague of Kietel's, who acts as Stallone's confidante. Stallone is really likeable here, as a lumpy, wishy-washy sheriff whose authority is never taken seriously because he never displays any backbone. This is the Stallone that I liked from the first Rocky movie; humble and easy-going, not the testosterone-pumped megastar of the 80s. There's a sense of sadness and loneliness that reveals as much about the actor as the character he's playing. The scene where he's in his room alone, listening to a sad Bruce Springsteen song, reveals in Stallone a talent that has been sadly neglected in the various blockbusters he's starred in. Ray Liotta, however, steals the film from everyone else. He takes a despicable character and makes him the most out of him. He's so good at playing unwashed, ill-natured characters that you can almost smell the grease coming off him. Unkempt, overweight and quick-tempered he's entirely believeable in his portayal of a cynical cop who has had enough of the corruption. His is the most human and complex of all the movie's characters. Liotta should be a star. Kietel is suitably menacing as the ringleader of the crooked police crew. Everything he does is to protect his own interests and he mercilessly rids himself of anyone who stands in his way. Unfortunately, a lot of the parts in the film are minor and DeNiro, Sciorra, Rappaport, Robert Patrick and Jeneane Garofolo are woefully underutilized. It's precisely because of the overabundance of talented cast members that the film gets hampered by it's own ambition and audience expectations. It would have worked better with more unknowns. The story in itself is well crafted and the revelations of the extent of police corruption smacks of truth. The ending is somewhat unsatisfying, but the film was truly a lot better than the reviews it got at the time suggest. Poor Sly. This really could have been a wonderful rebirth for him.
Rating:
Summary: THE SLOW ONE
Review: With a cast and a plot " Ã la Scorsese " , James Mangold's COP LAND unfortunately isn't even an half " Ã la Scorsese " movie. Like Freddy "Sylvester Stallone" Heflin, COP LAND is slow, heavy and so evident. Just imagine that the director, in order to make us understand that the Sheriff Heflin is not fighting for the world record of smartness per square/kilo, films during long minutes a turtle, the little toy of his girlfriend's daughter. But I did have a huge pleasure to admire Sylvester Stallone in this role which seems to have been written specially for him. Besides, Ray Liotta, Harvey Keitel and Robert DeNiro are great as usual. So COP LAND is an average movie that provides the kind of pleasure one can expect from an average movie (I agree, it's not the smartest thought of the year !). If you want to see a great movie about corrupt cops, rent or buy Sidney Lumet's THE PRINCE OF THE CITY (alas, not in the DVD standard), you won't be disappointed. A DVD for Sly.
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