COP LAND

The hype surrounding the re-invention of Sylvester Stallone as a serious actor, where he put on 40 pounds to be a small town sheriff in New Jersey, is not unfounded. COP LAND is an ambitious, energetic, engaging, terrific morality tale of police corruption, community, lost hopes, and courageous actions. Stallone puts forth one of his most serious, understated and heart-felt roles in years, portraying a humanity that hasn’t been seen from him since ROCKY.

COP LAND opens as NYPD officer Murray Babitch (Michael Rapaport) drives to his quiet home in Garrison, New Jersey after a day on the force. On the George Washington Memorial Bridge, he gets sideswiped by a pair of guys on a wild, late-night joy ride. The two black men in the car allegedly point a gun at Babitch, causing Babitch to chase them. Babitch catches up and accidentally crashes into the speeding vehicle, killing both riders. In no time, the bridge is wall to wall cops including Babitch’s uncle Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel). Ray discovers that there was no gun, just a steering wheel lock. To cover his nephew, Ray plants a gun in the car and has led the media to believe that Babitch “disappeared” into the cold waters of the Hudson below. Babitch is declared a “hero cop”, and the police force integrity is saved.

Back in Garrison, local sheriff Freddy Heflin (Sylvester Stallone) spends his days in quiet desperation. Although he wanted to be in the NYPD, he lost eligibility when, years ago, he lost the hearing in one ear while saving a woman named Liz (Annabella Sciorra) from drowning. Freddy spends his days giving out speeding tickets and breaking up school boy fights. He also overlooks the antics of the many New York City policemen that keep their homes in Garrison. Freddy’s ally is Gary “Figs” Figgis (Ray Liotta), a cop who won’t associate with the other cops in Garrison after losing his partner.

What really happened to Babitch and the two deceased motorists becomes the subject of intense media frenzy, attracting internal affairs investigator Moe Tilden (Robert DeNiro). Tilden has become a pariah of the police force because he wants to uncover any police corruption. Now, the small-town sheriff and big-city investigator join forces to expose the corruption in Garrison, while endangering their own lives and betraying their friends.

Although violent and containing rough language, this movie contains many commendable moral elements. First, Stallone plays a man who must rouse his own complacency and face the evil that has infected his own community. Overcoming self-doubt, he is a man who can no longer stand on the sidelines while his friends die at the hands of corrupt police officers. In a sad commentary on the times, he says “The cops have become the perpetrators, and the perpetrators have become the victims.” He is a man who finds his purpose and executes it. He is a good man who does good.

Secondly, officers are buried with Scripture readings and prayers to Christ. The movie suggests that the community, though damaged, is rooted in the Christian faith.

COP LAND also confronts the differences between childhood’s idealized dreams and adulthood’s harsh realities. It contains some of the mythic themes from the Western genre set in a detective story and played by great actors. Freddy always wanted to be on the NYPD force and idolizes the members of the force. However, at a time when the corruption has become too prevalent, he must make a decision. It is an incarnational example of Christ’s teaching about leaving home, family and friends for His sake. Freddy leaves his lifestyle and endangers his own life for the greater good of the town.

In the words of director James Mangold, “Garrison, like my own hometown, is a place filled with law enforcement officers, where everyone has the courage, weapons and know-how to stand up and defend themselves. As a general rule, no one would dare try to commit a crime in a place like that. But, right across the river lies the land of chaos and mayhem everyone thought they escaped – New York City. In a sense, these people have created a safe place for themselves, where they can live on their own – a new frontier. But, every day, outside the windows, they see the place they’ve escaped. Westerns are rife with that exact kind of paranoia, and the quest to go out and build a better place.”

COP LAND may be criticized for its simplistic good guys-bad guys plot, but, in these morally confused times, its very simplicity endears us to its story and especially to Stallone.