Garrison, New Jersey is a good place to live. With little crime and lots of families, the town is populated with cops who work across the river in New York City. Freddy Heflin (SYLVESTER STALLONE) has been the sheriff of Garrison for the past ten years, and he's always admired the men in blue, although he could never become one.
After saving the life of Liz Randone (ANNABELLA SCIORRA) many years ago when her car plunged into a river, Freddy went deaf in one ear and never could qualify for the force. The many cops who know him, including senior cop Ray Donlan (HARVEY KEITEL), are friendly, but see him as a lower class officer.
Nonetheless, everything seems hunky dory until a young officer, Murray Babitch (MICHAEL RAPAPORT), takes a leap into the Hudson River after shooting two unarmed motorists. Everyone thinks Murray is dead, but in reality Donlan, his uncle, has him hidden away. Internal affairs agent Moe Tilden (ROBERT DE NIRO), who's been investigating Donlan and others, knows something's up.
So he goes to Freddy looking for answers and asks him to watch Donlan. Of course he could just ask Gary Figgis (RAY LIOTTA), an officer who still blames Donlan for the death of his partner who was set to expose the corruption in the department. As Freddy starts to question his friendship with the allegedly crooked cops, Donlan knows he must come up with a body from the bridge jump or their whole corrupt world might unravel.
Thus he, and cops Jack Rucker (ROBERT PATRICK) and Joey Randone (PETER BERG), Liz's husband, set out to kill Murray who comes to Freddy for help. From then on, the sheriff must figure out the right course to take in his ever increasingly dangerous world.
"Cop Land" is a typical tale of police corruption, cover ups and finally exposure that's presented in non-typical fashion. Boasting an impressive casting coupe, the film perfectly balances the massive cast and never feels like an all-star outing or disaster flick (that traditionally always had big casts).
For the most part Stallone, who gained some forty pounds for his role, does a good job at playing his humble character. Harkening back to his early roles where he wasn't chiseled and testosterone filled, it's nice to see Stallone play this varied role.
It's reminiscent of the first "Rocky" film, and even "First Blood" (the first "Rambo" movie) where he played a character who didn't want to bother anyone until shoved into action. It's a nice step in the right direction for him and he does a decent job playing this character who lost his shot at his dream and can only look back at his one past glory.
Of course Stallone has to play against some masterful actors, including De Niro and Keitel, both of whom make acting seem like second nature, but Stallone holds his own. It helps that he's the passive good guy, the one we root for to not only expose the corruption in the story, but also to "clean house" in the process.
While there is a tremendous build up of pressure in his character, and there is retribution, it's not quite the butt kicking, adrenaline pumping scene that many will expect it to be. The aforementioned actors, and others like Liotta, Berg, and Patrick are also excellent in their roles.
Our biggest complaint -- which isn't that big -- is with the script that essentially just retreads this genre. We've seen police corruption stories many times before where the lone cop has to turn snitch and stop the bad guys. Here, you pretty much have the same story.
The nice feature is that Stallone plays a sheriff on the outside looking in, and the men he's admired so long turn out to be scum. Watching Keitel say, "Oh, a felony" after Stallone tells him of a trash dumping problem, not only shows what he thinks of the sheriff, but it also allows us to watch Stallone's pained, but still smiling reaction. The fact that he's torn between supporting them and doing what he knows is right creates a compelling character dilemma. One can only hope that Sly takes more of these roles and less of the "Judge Dredd" ones.
Feeling a great deal like those 1970's police dramas, "Cop Land" is sure to please those looking for that type of story performed by an incredible cast. Tense, compelling, and always interesting, we liked this film.
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