Cop Land
By Peter John Gardner
Sensing that his career was going down the toilet and that his choice in roles has grown stale, Stallone took on a challenge for "Cop Land". It's a gritty New York cop drama that could almost pass as a Scorcese film if it had a better script and soundtrack, but as it stands, "Cop Land" is a damn good movie and a wise career move for Stallone.
Remember Sly's big breakthrough was Rocky, which was not an action film but a character driven drama. Stallone can act when given the right role, and "Cop Land" suits him well. Stallone gained 30 pounds of fat for the role, and the only thing worse than having to see Stallone's ass over and over again is seeing Stallone wearing only boxers, writhing around in his bed just so the producers can show you that it's not a pillow under his shirt. He plays a half-deaf sheriff of a small New Jersey town across the river from NYC. Many NYC cops have taken up residence there, and since they're lead by Harvey Keitel, you know they're the ones actually running the show in the small town. Stallone must decide between covering up for his cop friends living in his town or doing the right thing and reporting their shenanigans to Internal Affairs.
Stallone's role is kind of like if Rocky never made it. Sheriff Freddy Heflin isn't the sharpest cookie in the world, but he means well, and here's where casting Stallone helps. Stallone's got a natural sad look in his eyes (Stop laughing), and it works well for a role about a guy that never quite made it.
What also helps this movie is that it has a script that's, while not perfect, miles above previous Stallone movies. The story is a little stale and predictable, but it's neat to hear dialogue that sounds believable coming out of Stallone's mouth. He's also surrounded by honest-to-god good actors in the film. Besides the aforementioned Harvey Keitel, this movie also co-stars Robert DeNiro, Ray Liotta, Janeane Garafalo (?!), the T-1000, and, hey, there's that guy from Deep Blue Sea. It's fun watching Stallone actually hold his own against the likes of DeNiro.
The character of Sheriff Freddy Heflin is a sad one. Here's a guy that had all the right chops to become a real cop, but his career was derailed due to the loss of hearing in one of his ears, which he lost while trying to save someone's life of course. He's accepted his fate and just kind of lives out his days accepting himself as someone who will never be and is letting himself go. That's precisely the kind of self-loathing attitude that I fall victim to as well. Many times, when I find that I don't succeed or get what I want upon first try, I usually just give up and just accept it. The problem with that philosophy is that it stagnates one's life, and you just sort of pass the days accepting what you can't do instead of trying to prove otherwise.
Stallone did that here. After being stuck in the same couple of action movie formulas for the past decade or so, he chose a dramatic role, and it worked. It's time I did something different with my life. Or maybe I should just prove I can do something that people said that I couldn't do...such as finishing this silly project.
