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Love him or hate him, Sylvester Stallone did more than hold his own against an all-star cast back in 1997 for Cop Land. Far from his typical "showiest" performances (Rambo, per se), he put on forty pounds to play sheriff Freddy Heflin in a more emotionally-driven role. It was ironic, though, in what was easily his most inspiring performance since Rocky, that the film's domestic success hurt his career and he struggled to find work for years afterwards, as many critics believed he had left his action persona for the more emotionally-fulfilling roles.

The premise of Cop Land is pretty simple: The nice guy sheriff (Stallone) works in a small town and has dreams of getting onto the big city force, but can't due to his partial deafness. Meanwhile, a bunch of NYPD cops are involved in corrupt dealings with the mob, headed by Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel), which helps fund their homes and feed their families. Most people in the town are aware of what's going on, but prefer to keep their eyes closed and mouths shut in order to carry on living their peaceful lives. That is until the sheriff decides to stand up for what's right and take life by the throat.

Cop Land has the cast of a Martin Scorsese film, and is therefore all about the characters. Freddy Heflin is the main character that we can easily sympathise with: He has great heart, though is stricken by the love he has for Liz (Annabella Sciorra). She is a pretty woman who he saved from a car accident when he was young, in sacrifice of his own hearing. Heartbreakingly, she went on to marry one of his less-likable colleagues, Joey Randone (Peter Berg).

In one of the film's most memorable scenes, Liz asks Freddy why he never got married; he replies "Because all the best girls were taken." It really is a touching line. Emotionally captivating, also, are the feelings shown on Stallone's face as he spouts this. Deep down the character knows that he is worth so much more than the cosy little life as the sheriff that he has resigned himself to, but his spirit has become weakened, and he fears standing up for what he truly believes in. This is something that many people have faced at some point in their lives and can therefore relate to.

Stallone's performance, overall, is truly convincing and the driving force of the movie. There are shades of De Niro in Raging Bull -- not only with the weight factor, but in the feeling of despair and resignation. In fact, De Niro's character is vastly underwritten here in comparison, and it may be disappointing to some that he doesn't get as much screentime as Stallone. He is effective, though, in inspiring the slow-wittedness of Stallone's character, which eventually leads to the film's explosive conclusion, so this could be considered a positive thing. Despite the big name cast, and solid supporting performances (Ray Liotta, Robert Patrick and Peter Berg are here also), this is arguably Stallone's film through and through.

Pacing wise, the film is pretty much spot on. I haven't seen the Director's Cut DVD as yet, which boasts the original running time of a hundred and twelve mins, but judging by the theatrical cut here, this is a low key affair that dares to build slowly. This could easily have been a mesh of big egos clashing for the spot light, but instead there is a gritty, down-to-earth feel of many of the police movies of the '70s and '80s as director James Mangold deliberately singles out Stallone from the A-list heavies, giving him the chance to make a big impression. And it works very well: Just watch as Sly's temporary-deaf character takes on the entire mob with shotgun at the end -- a truly fitting conclusion to a great film.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2008.