June 02, 2022
'Cop Land'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons offered Chris Ryan and Sean Fennessey a chance to be real podcasters and they BLEW IT!!! They revisit James Mangold's 1997 film 'Cop Land,' starring Sylvester Stallone, Ray Liotta, Harvey Keitel, and Robert De Niro.
Cast
Sylvester Stallone as Sheriff Freddy Heflin
Harvey Keitel as Ray Donlan
Robert De Niro as Moe Tilden
Ray Liotta as Figgsy
Robert Patrick as Jack Rucker
Peter Berg as Joey Randone
Annabella Sciorra as Liz Randone
Michael Rapaport as Murray 'Superboy' Babitch
Janeane Garofalo as Deputy Cindy Betts
Edie Falco as Berta
Noah Emmerich as Garrison cop
Cathy Moriarty as Rose
Frank Vincent as Garrison resident
Directed by: James Mangold
Written by: James Mangold
Notes
- Recorded as a tribute to Ray Liotta, who had just died. They consider this his second-best role after Henry Hill in 'Goodfellas'.
- Budget: $15 million; grossed $63 million.
- Stallone gained 40 lbs for the role; everyone worked for scale.
- Garrison is based on Mangold's hometown of Washingtonville, NY, 60 miles from NYC, where many residents were current/former NYPD officers.
- De Niro's mustache continuity error near the end – he was simultaneously filming Jackie Brown and couldn't shave it.
- Two deleted scenes involved racial profiling that Bill thinks should have been kept.
- Disclaimer at end of credits: 'This film is a work of fiction. It's currently illegal for New York City police officers to live outside the state of New York.'
- Harvey Weinstein likely influenced the voice-over and the flashback to young Stallone's car accident.
- Six cast members went on to The Sopranos: Edie Falco, Robert Patrick, Annabella Sciorra, Tony Sirico, Arthur Nascarella, and Ventimiglia.
- Came out 5 days before the Abner Louima police brutality incident.
- Stallone 2018: 'Mangold was the best director I ever worked with, but the film actually worked in reverse. It was pretty good, critically, but the fact that it didn't do a lot of box office again fomented the opinion that I'd had my moment.'
- Sean calls it 'the best three-star movie ever made.'
Categories
Roger Ebert's review
Quote from Rog's review:
“There is a balance between how long a movie is, how deep it goes and how much it can achieve. That balance is not found in Copland.”
- Ebert's main criticism was 'too much movie for the running time.'
- Bill agreed with that assessment but thought it deserved at least 2.5 stars.
Most re-watchable scene
- Bill's pick: Superboy's accident/shooting on the George Washington Bridge – 'He jumped! He fucking jumped!'
- Sean's pick: the 'You blew it' De Niro/Stallone confrontation.
- Other top contenders: the Four Aces bar scene (Liotta vs. Berg gambling, Liotta vs. Patrick darts), Keitel/De Niro at the coffee shop, Ray trying to drown Superboy in the above-ground pool.
What aged the best?
- The mid-90s era of swollen indie movies where big stars work for scale.
- De Niro and Stallone in scenes together – two of the biggest stars of that era.
- Six cast members who went on to The Sopranos.
- Edie Falco smoking – Chris Ryan was extremely enthusiastic about this.
- James Mangold's career trajectory.
- Two Bruce Springsteen songs on the soundtrack.
- Post-George Floyd/police corruption context makes the film resonate differently.
What aged the worst?
- Ray/Keitel's plan to hide Superboy is 'fucking stupid' – the entire plot hinges on it and doesn't hold up logically.
- Young Stallone in the car accident flashback – 'looks like Meat from Porky's.'
- Cathy Moriarty aged dramatically between Raging Bull and this.
- Stallone saying this movie didn't help his career/was considered a failure commercially.
Best needle drop
- Winner: Springsteen's 'Stolen Car' – characters interact with the music playing ('You can get this on CD' / 'Wouldn't matter to me').
- Freddy's sophisticated music taste: Glen Gould records, opera appreciation, good Springsteen taste.
Casting what-ifs
- Ray Liotta wanted to be Sheriff Freddy; Stallone wanted to be Figsy – completely different movie, wouldn't work.
- The role of Freddy was offered to Gary Sinise – would have been interesting with a different 'stepped on' energy vs. Stallone's gentle giant.
Best "heat check" performance
- Ray Liotta ineligible (too big a role).
- Bill's pick: Method Man as Shondel.
- Chris's pick: John Spencer – the 'I need floodlights, I need divers' cop energy.
- Other nominees: Pete Berg, Robert Patrick, Edie Falco.
Best "that guy"
Arthur Nascarella as Frank Lagonda – 'the definition of That Guy.'
Over-acting award
- Harvey Keitel yelling 'You made it on the back of a matchbook without thinking' – Bill felt Keitel was somewhat coasting, 'James Harden Philly-ish.'
- Ray Liotta on the bridge: 'Oh no, he jumped! Leo! He jumped!'
Weak link of the movie
Janeane Garofalo – 'Why is Janeane Garofalo in this movie?' Doesn't fit the world, throws off every scene she's in. The character concept works but the casting doesn't.
Re-casting couch
- Switch Edie Falco and Janeane Garofalo – Falco in the deputy role would make the movie much better.
- 2022 version: The Rock as Freddy, Robert Downey Jr. as Figsy.
Apex Mountain
- Michael Rapaport: around this time (Beautiful Girls, 'True Romance', Kiss of Death, 'Cop Land').
- De Niro: 'Apex Mountain of pre-sell-out De Niro but post-golden-age De Niro' – 3 movies in 1997: 'Cop Land', Jackie Brown, Wag the Dog.
- Pre-Sopranos Jersey cop scumbags: this is the apex mountain for that subcategory.
The hottest take award
- Bill: The biggest mistake Stallone made was gaining 40 lbs because his face was never the same after losing the weight, leading to plastic surgery and 'the Stallone mask' by the late 90s.
- Sean (winner): Is this a top-10 De Niro performance? Would rather rewatch 'You blew it' than Raging Bull.
- Chris: Joey Randone was right about the Bulls bet – researched the 1996 Eastern Conference semis.
Picking nits
- Ray's plan: why have a party showing Superboy is alive, then immediately try to kill him?
- Stallone and Pete Berg 'all grew up together' but Berg is clearly 12 years younger.
- The voice-over opens with De Niro but he's not a POV character, and it never returns.
- Why didn't Ace just pull Superboy aside instead of the napkin note?
Best (or worst!) life lessons from the movie
- Sean: 'Move diagonal' – life is not a straight line; you don't get to Broadway by going down Broadway.
- Bill: Don't live in the part of New Jersey really close to the water.
Sequel, prequel, prestige TV or untouchable?
- Would have been an awesome early HBO show – 6 episodes, could bring in new characters each season.
- Sean suggests a prequel about the establishment of Copland.
Would this movie be better with...?
- Jon Bernthal as Wayne Jenkins – could have played nine parts.
- JT Walsh as the John Spencer character.
Best double feature for this movie
- Sean: Prince of the City (first), then 'Cop Land'.
- Chris: Pride and Glory or Place Beyond the Pines.
What memorabilia would you want (or not want!) from the movie?
- Bill: the 'Lethal Weapon' 3 pinball machine from Four Aces.
- Chris: Harvey Keitel's white and pastel blue tracksuit.
- Sean: Moe's turkey sandwich.
Who won the movie?
Ray Liotta – unanimous.