Cop Land - An okay film made great by its cast

When you have heavyweights Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel on board, you expect some pretty damn fine acting. And, of course, from those two (and Ray Liotta) you get it. Therefore, some might find it strange that these greats are sort of dotted around Sylvester Stallone - a man not known for his diverse range of acting talent.

Stallone plays a Sheriff, in charge of a (mainly) quiet town that's home to New York's cop population. After years of having an easy job, he slowly uncovers a whiff of corruption and has to investigate.

I'd use the phrase `slow burner' to describe Cop Land. With Stallone in the lead, some might be mistaken for thinking it's some sort of action movie. It's not. It's a slow police thriller - definitely an acquired taste. The story is nothing new or exceptional, but, as I've already said, it has DeNiro and Keitel backing Stallone up - something that can't be overlooked.

Therefore, if you remade this film minus the A-list cast, you'd probably have a turkey on your hands. The cast definitely elevate it over other similar stories.

And fair play to Stallone who, despite mumbling throughout most of the movie (you know - how he does), he did at least shed a lot of his trademark muscle in favour of piling on the flab to look more `out of shape' for his role as a Sheriff who's just going through the motions of law enforcement in a town where - technically - no one is the baddie.

If you like cop movies, you'll probably get some enjoyment out of this. However, I can see some people labelling it as a bit slow for their liking.  

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that