gwnightscream Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro star in this 1997 crime drama. This takes place in Garrison, a small, New Jersey town where we meet Sheriff, Freddy Heflin (Stallone) who not only wants more in his life, but idolizes some of the cops in town and across the river in New York. Soon, he discovers that one of the cops, Ray Donlan (Keitel) and others are involved in mob connections and tries to bring order. Liotta (Goodfellas) plays cop, Gary Figgis and De Niro (Heat) plays Internal Affairs agent, Moe Tilden. Robert Patrick (The Faculty), Peter Berg (Shocker), Michael Rapaport (Higher Learning), Annabella Sciorra (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle) and Cathy Moriarty (Raging Bull) co-star. This is a good crime drama with a great cast and Howard Shore's score is excellent as usual. I recommend this.

videorama-759-859391 I'll be honest. Copland is not a great film. It's a better watch the second time around, where it entertained me much more. Stallone is in his element, and will surprise you, especially people doubting his acting ability, as a beaten cop, who got the bad end of the stick. He works in this town on the other side of the Jersey river, that offers a much more prosperous future. In his own town, he just discovers police corruption which runs a deep path, headed by old colleague (Keitel, in a tight performance). The police force here, is a front for drugs, and other things, where we meet a few bad apples like T2's Robert Patrick, an actor who always brings something to the table. A supposed jumper, cop Rappaport disappears, and later on, becomes a liability, where the only cop he can trust is overweight, apathetic Stallone, who's just so good in this film. Copland does have some original and fresh touches about it, regarding plot, one scene borrowing, or resembling that one in Striking Distance. De Niro as a tough, hard as nails IA detective, of course, does us solid. A beefy Liotta is also very good, as Stallone's good friend and partner, adding a kind of doubting menace regarding his standing as a honest cop, which I liked, as well as his excellent talent at demonstrating very real anger, but apart from Stallone, Keitel was the other one who really impressed me. There's nothing but good actors in Copland, Cathy Moriarty, worse praising too, as a Keitel's haggard wife, doing a younger cop. The movie does keep falling to patches of ordinary, as it's not the best pick off the shelf, but definitely watch this good acting over story, especially when the films heralded by Stallone's really impressive acting you gotta witness.

taylorburgdorf Stallone, who I respect as an action star...is put into a role not suited for his best attributes. The movie wants to play a a suspense building melodrama but it comes off as a simple Stallone who cannot see the forest for his slow witlessness. Later in the film they try to spark his aggression as a 11th round 'Rocky' type of fulfillment but it just comes off as a weak cop who has has just enough to nudge him over the edge. Justice? Stallone ignores it for most of the film and suddenly finds his guiding light after days/weeks (movie time) of plodding along being a sheep. Overall: too slow a climax buildup, weak climax buildup, and trying to force a stud actor into a slow, plodding role which he cannot play. Just feels wrong.

jb0579 I never give a movie a "10", and I chuckle when people do. And I don't talk about plot, you can find that elsewhere. Rather, I talk about a film's merit, and there is plenty to be said here. Bar far, I think, Stallone's best work, this film is complex on many levels as a little of things are at play here: the disappointment of a sheriff who feels he's left his potential behind him, the departmental bickering between municipalities and different precincts, and the disparity between clean cops and crooked ones to name a few. As the movie grooves on, you see just how brilliant the casting was here as you forget guys like Ray Liotta and Jason Patrick aren't really cops. Rappaport was believable using his real New York accent, DeNiro delivers as always, but it's Stallone who steals the show as the overweight, tired and clean sheriff who takes heat from his crooked cop counterparts. Direction was wonderful, cinematography wonderful, and beautifully lit as well. Not a lot to complain about. Sit down, get comfortable, and watch Sly steal the show: really pay attention to watch how masterfully believable he is, and how the pain he feels seems genuine. Where are these performances from him in all the rest of his movies??!!?? Director and screenwriter James Mangold (Walk the Line, Girl, Interrupted) got the best out of all of his star-studded cast, but Sly deserves the Lions share here. A must see, in my opinion, for lovers of the genre.