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Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Janeane Garofalo
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Cop Land |
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A half-deaf man is the sheriff of a local town. Another cop who is known as "Superboy" kills two bad guys who he thought had a gun. However a group of corrupt cops are looking out for him. They fake Superboy's death. Internal affairs is sent to a small town in New Jersey to investigate. The sheriff there finds out that superboy isn't dead. Instead Superboy is being hunted by the corrupt cops. The sheriff then goes after the corrupt cops.
--Jack Bauer, Resident Scholar
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A small town outside of New York is home to many corrupt NYPD officers. The local cop, who always wanted to be on the NYPD but couldn't due to being half-deaf, always looked the other way and let the cops do what they wanted. When one cop makes a mistake they fake his death and send him into hiding. When another of the cops can't be trusted he's killed. They try to kill the cop in hiding, but he gets away and goes to the local cop for help. The local cop goes to the New York police, but they can't help. The cop goes after the corrupt cops alone and is able to kill them all and bring in the cop in hiding.
--Brandon Swenson, Resident Scholar
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It's a rare film indeed where Sylvester Stallone out-acts De Niro, Keitel, and Liotta! But to be fair, they have a lot less to do in this story. Stallone stars as Freddy Heflin, a guy who always wanted to be one of New York's finest but was kept out of the force by slight deafness. He managed to get himself elected sheriff of a small New Jersey town where he has gone to seed and is something of a joke. He still looks up to the NYC cops, many of whom have homes in his town. But NYPD Internal Affairs investigator Moe Tilden (De Niro) shows up and uncovers widespread corruption and racism among the men in blue (masterminded by the Keitel character, naturally), and Heflin has to decide what he's really made of. Liotta plays a nervous insider who can't decide what to do, Garofalo has a meaty cameo as one of Heflin's deputies. Among the supporting cast are Robert Patrick, Michael Rapoport, Annabella Sciorra, Cathy Moriarty, Noah Emmerich, Deborah Harry, and Geraldo Rivera. All the big stars took massive pay cuts to work on this labor of love. (Stallone was paid a mere $60,000 and, more amazingly, ingested a steady diet of giant pancakes to gain more than 30 pounds for the role). Though writer-director James Mangold's plot is a little too contrived (NYPD cops are not allowed to live out of state, for one thing) and ends in a distasteful explosion of gunplay, most of the acting and story are refreshing.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Cop Land |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 30%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 25%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 45%
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1980's-1999
Crime & Police Story?
Yes
Criminal enemy is...
- law enforcement gone bad
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- short/standard straight (man)
Body type
- fat (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- aggressive
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Body type
- average build (man)
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard curly
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- hostile, like Gomer Pyle on steroids
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- gory visuals of deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- challenged
How many deaths in film?
- 4-8
Kind of violence:
- hand to hand
- guns
Unusual forms of death
- dropped from large heights
- perforation--bullets
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Jack Bauer
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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