Cop Land (1997)

The Sheriff of a suburban New Jersey community, populated by New York City police officers, slowly discovers the town is a front for mob connections and corruption.

Director:

James Mangold

Writer:

James Mangold

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	Freddy Heflin
Harvey Keitel	...	Ray Donlan
Ray Liotta	...	Gary Figgis
Robert De Niro	...	Moe Tilden
Peter Berg	...	Joey Randone
Janeane Garofalo	...	Deputy Cindy Betts
Robert Patrick	...	Jack Rucker
Michael Rapaport	...	Murray Babitch
Annabella Sciorra	...	Liz Randone
Noah Emmerich	...	Deputy Bill Geisler
Cathy Moriarty	...	Rose Donlan
John Spencer	...	Leo Crasky
Frank Vincent	...	PDA President Lassaro
Malik Yoba	...	Detective Carson
Arthur J. Nascarella	...	Frank Lagonda (as Arthur Nascarella)

Storyline

Sometime in the 1970's, police officers from New York City wanted a safe haven to live, away from the dangers of the streets of New York City, this is when they established a "Cop Land" in the small New Jersey town of Garrison. Freddy Heflin who was always admired by the New York cops wanted to become one, but because he was deaf in one ear this prevents him from achieving his goal, but has become sheriff of Garrison. Recently there have been a dark omen surrounding the NYPD, and Freddy is now investigating on this case, then Internal Affairs officer Mo Tilden is also on the case and asks Freddy for help, but Freddy could not. Now Freddy suspects that a New York City cop named Ray Donlan might be one of the many cops who is corrupted by the mob and other criminals. Now, Freddy must find a cop who is nicknamed "Superboy" who can testify against Donlan and protect him, before Donlan finds Superboy and kills him.

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Plot Keywords:

corruption | internal affairs | falling off a roof | faked death | dirty cop | 

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Taglines:

No One Is Above The Law.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, strong language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 August 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

CopLand

Filming Locations:

New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,510,482, 17 August 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$44,886,089, 16 November 1997

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,800,000, 1 February 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax, Woods Entertainment, Across the River Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 116 min (director's cut) 120 min (extended director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In New Jersey, individual towns do not have Sheriff's Departments, only counties do.

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Goofs

At Superboy's funeral, the cops are called to attention to start the ceremony but all appear to go to the position of "Parade Rest", with their hands behind their back.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Moe Tilden: [narrating] Every precinct has its cop bar - a private club - all blue. For the 3-7 it was the Four Aces, just across the river.

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Crazy Credits

Normally, the credits display the actor's name on the left side with the character's name on the right. The credits here are reversed.

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Alternate Versions

A newly released Special Edition DVD restores approximately 15 minutes of scenes that were cut or extended from the theatrical version.

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Connections

Featured in ABC News Nightline: Episode dated 18 December 2013 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Beyond the Sea
(La Mer)
Music by Charles Trenet
French lyrics by Charles Trenet
English lyrics by Jack Lawrence
Performed by Bobby Darin
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

My God! Stallone can act!

Sylvester Stallone is excellent in this slow-moving, absorbing film about cops on the take. Sly goes through what must be one of the longest slow-burns in movie history as the dumb, passive sheriff who only has his job thanks to the grace of crooked cop Harvey Keitel and protects him and his gang because of it. When it finally dawns on him, as it was inevitable it would, that he's been played for a fool, the results are explosive. It's well written, with a strong storyline, great dialogue and excellent performances all round (especially from Robert de Niro, Keitel and Ray Liotta). But it stands or falls on Stallone's portrayal of the central character, and he rises surprisingly majestically to the occasion. A very restrained, sensitive performance in a cracking good film.