Star land

Stallone, Keitel, De Niro, Liotta in Cop Land

by MATTHEW HAYS

Stallone lumbers through his role in Cop Land. He plays the sheriff of a small town who, after losing his hearing in one ear years ago, was deemed unfit to serve as a big city cop and has been confined to a largely figurehead status. Stallone is surrounded by a series of A-list actors: Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta and, perhaps highest on the list, Robert De Niro.

Thus it's impossible to watch a film like Cop Land, with its steeped-in-symbolism casting, and not think about Stallone's inevitable trepidation going into this. Can Stallone shine beside the A-list? Stallone even gained weight (some 38 pounds) à la De Niro in Raging Bull, and carefully studied the hearing-impaired as part of his method preparation for the role.

Cop Land's plot is farfetched, but somehow believable. A young 'heroic' cop (Michael Rapaport) heads home after a late night. While heading across a bridge, his car is side-swiped by a couple of kids in a car. He pursues them and, seeing one of them pull what looks like a gun, draws his and fires. The cars collide and the two youth are killed. With two young blacks dead at the hands of a white cop, the police smell scandal, and Rapaport's uncle, played by Keitel (again doing the bad lieutenant thing), arrives at the scene to plant some evidence and help fake Rapaport's suicide.

Keitel then smuggles Rapaport out to Cop Land, which is the nickname given to the New Jersey 'burb Stallone oversees as sheriff. The coverup around Rapaport's disappearance has soon become state-wide news, and the hunt for him intensifies. Keitel soon decides that in order to avoid the heat his nephew will have to be done away with after all; Rapaport escapes and the chase follows. De Niro is the internal investigator for the NYC cop shop, trying desperately to sniff out Rapaport's whereabouts.

Director James Mangold, amazingly, has only directed one feature (Heavy) prior to Cop Land. His hand feels sure, his direction makes sense of a cast that must have been overwrought with ego. His script is event-heavy (with a rousing musical score to match), something's always going on, and Mangold observes with a keen eye for detail.

By the final credits, Stallone has stood up fairly well amid the towering talent. There's a pivotal scene in the film where De Niro confronts Stallone. "You're not a real cop," he reminds Stallone of his small-town-sheriff status, as if referring to his offscreen reputation as well.

Welcome to the big city, Sly.

Cop Land opens this Friday, Aug. 15. See film listings for showtimes