Cop Land (1997) Biography, Plot, Production, Home media, Trailer.

Cop Land (1997)

Cop Land is a 1997 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by James Mangold. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, and Robert De Niro, with Peter Berg, Janeane Garofalo, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport, and Annabella Sciorra in supporting roles. Stallone portrays the sheriff of a small New Jersey town who comes into conflict with the corrupt New York City police officers living in the community. The film received positive reviews and grossed $63.7 million on a $15 million budget.

Plot.

The town of Garrison, New Jersey, is home to a cadre of policemen from the NYPD’s 37th Precinct: Lt. Ray Donlan, Det. Leo Crasky, and officers Gary Figgis, Jack Rucker, Frank Lagonda, and Joey Randone. Exploiting a loophole in department regulations allowing them to live outside the city by being designated “auxiliary transit cops”, Donlan and his friends are effectively untouchable by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs division and are further protected by Sheriff Freddy Heflin. Unable to fulfill his lifelong dream of joining the NYPD due to deafness in one ear (the result of nearly drowning while saving a woman), Heflin idolizes Donlan and refuses to help IA investigator Lt. Moe Tilden in his attempt to build a case against the dirty cops. One night, Donlan’s nephew, Officer Murray “Superboy” Babitch, is sideswiped by two African-American teens while driving across the George Washington Bridge. One of the teens points what looks like a weapon at Babitch just as his tire blows out from a glass puncture; a frightened Babitch shoots them both dead. Donlan, Rucker, and Crasky show up and try to plant a gun in the teens’ car, only to get caught by a paramedic.

In desperation, Donlan convinces Babitch to fake his suicide before sneaking him into Garrison with a promise that he will get him set up in a new identity. Randone’s wife Liz, the woman Heflin saved from drowning years ago, visits Heflin at his home and they confess their feelings for each other. Figgis is kicked out of Donlan’s circle, and his house burns down soon after with his girlfriend inside; Heflin lets him stay at his home thinking that Donlan tried to kill him. Fearing that Babitch will expose him, Donlan unsuccessfully tries to drown his nephew. Babitch goes to Heflin for help but flees when he sees Figgis. While on patrol, Randone is attacked and thrown over the edge of a building. Donlan deliberately chooses not to save him from falling to his death in retaliation for Randone having an affair with his wife Rose. Heflin, tired of being pushed around by Donlan and his men, visits Tilden to offer his help with the investigation, only to learn that the mayor, under pressure from Donlan’s allies in the police union, has ordered IA to stop looking into Garrison and Babitch’s disappearance.

Production.

Garrison is based on Mangold’s hometown of Washingtonville, New York, located about 60 miles (97 km) from New York City. Mangold grew up in a development called Worley Heights, where many of the residents were current and former NYPD police officers. Stallone gained 40 pounds (18 kg) to portray the beaten-down sheriff of Garrison. The principal shooting location for the film was Edgewater, New Jersey.

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Home media.

Cop Land has been released on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD numerous times since 1998. The initial extras-free DVDs had the theatrical cut in non-anamorphic widescreen, while subsequent issues, including various “Collector’s Editions” on DVD and Blu-ray, have favoured the director’s cut. StudioCanal’s French and German region B-locked Blu-rays exclusively feature both the 101-minute theatrical cut and 116-minute director’s cut. Extras include an audio commentary (with James Mangold, Sylvester Stallone, Robert Patrick, and producer Cathy Konrad), “The Making of an Urban Western” featurette, a storyboard comparison, two deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer. The two deleted scenes primarily show the racism in the town of Garrison. One scene involves all the resident police officers chasing down a pair of black motorists, and the other shows Heflin’s deputy pointing out that the majority of the tickets issued in Garrison go to black motorists on charges that suggest racial profiling.