qormi Copland is very subtle in its character development and revelations. The characters are very real and complex. This film will not take you by the hand and show you around. You have to be astute and infer what is going down. The key to this movie is that the people are real. The acting is top notch. Besides all the familiar names doing an outstanding job, the entire cast of characters... and there are many.. all come off as very real, surprising the viewer as they are just as unpredictable as real people. That's why this movie is a masterpiece... it demands more than one viewing to fully appreciate the unfolding drama. Stallone's character, who never shakes off his naïveté and self doubt, emerges victorious in spite of himself. Kietel and his minions are vain, nasty creeps..like many people you may know. Liotta is a tortured soul who somehow has a shred of decency left. DeNirio's character lacks integrity and is in a position of authority; a man who lacks the courage to pursue the truth. All these people are real.

LeonLouisRicci An Impressive Cast with Sly Stallone Playing Against Type as a Brooding NYPD Wannabe Hampered by a Hearing Deficiency. It's a Complex Story of Police Corruption on a Large Scale Set in a Small New Jersey Town where New York City Police Officers Reside.Everyone, it seems, is Lapping Up the Gravy and the Local Sheriff (Stallone) just Looks Powerless and is Unable or Unwilling to Match the Onslaught of Crooked Cops doing Crooked Deeds and Flaunting it in His Face.The Story is Full of Characters and Back Stories so Loosely Woven as to be Lousy with Plot-Holes and Question Marks. The Stellar Cast all have Their Moments as Everyone is On Edge along with the Audience.It's a Tense Film that is Ultimately Unsatisfying even though the Ending Narration Assures Everyone that Justice Prevailed and Virtually Everyone Gets What's Coming. It's too Tidy to be Believable and too Packaged Considering all that Happened.Worth a Watch for the Cast and Stallone's Attempt to Alter His Image. An Above Average Drama/Thriller that is Filled with Too Much and Not Enough.Note...For Star-Watchers the Cast includes....Sylvester Stallone...Harvey Keitel...Ray Liotta... Robert DeNiro...Peter Berg...Janeane Garofalo...Michael Rappaport...Robert Patrick...Annabella Sciorra...Noah Emmerich...Cathy Moriarty...All working for scale.

slightlymad22 Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in order, I come to 1997's Copland.Plot In A Paragraph: Freddy Heflin (Stallone) is the sheriff of Garrison, New Jersey, a small town that many NYPD officers call home. He idolises them, especially Ray Donlan (Harvey Kietel) but when an officer (Michael Rappaport) is responsible for an incident involving the death of two civilians, he starts to realise his heroes may not be the good guys he thinks they are. Playing it subtle, playing an overweight Sheriff, deaf in one in ear, sad, lonely and practically beaten down by life. Copland features Sly's best performance since First Blood, and a serious argument could be made for it being his best since 'Rocky'. Sly does some great acting with his eyes, something normally reserved for his portrayals of Rocky Balboa. (Watch the scenes where De Niro calls him a "deaf f**k" and as he sits looking at the bridge just after his car accident) He is wonderful here and deserved an Academy Award nomination at least. I certainly rate his performance over the actual winner Jack Nicholson in 'As Good As It Gets'.Of the rest of the cast. Ray Liotta is brilliant as Heflin's best friend Figgsy, and if his character had been better written and more fleshed out, he'd have walked away with the full movie. Harvey Kietel is as great as he always is. Robert Patrick turns in a fine smarmy performance as does Michael Rappaport (an actor I'm a fan of) John Spencer is as wonderful as always, whilst Robert De Niro isn't given as much to do as one might hope, and Cathy Moriarty is under used.There is a lot of subplots, most of which are not explored. Figgs's drug problem, the bad blood between Figgs and Jack (Patrick), Heflin potentially having a drink problem, the relationship between Figgs and Ray, the relationship between Heflin and Rose, racism, affairs and the dumping of garbage bags. Characters pop up and then disappear We are teased with a scene between De Niro and Keitel early on, as Keitel says he will come in and see De Niro's Internal Affairs agent, but it never comes off and we miss it. Stallone has described this as "the beginning of the end, for about eight years" saying after announcing 'Daylight' would be his last action movie, and then going method (gaining the weight) and playing dramatic in this (despite solid reviews) he said he struggled to get roles or his own movies off the ground for the next 8 years. There are two versions available of this movie, the theatrical release and a directors cut released on DVD. I believe that between the two versions is a 10/10 movie, as it is, it's a 9/10.

jgls-1 Yeah, Stallone is v good, director better. You can kinda see where he has maybe told Stallone 'Here, lower your head, a bit of contrition, you're an elected sheriff, you gotta kowtow to the others' but dammit it is well done. Keitel of course great but a few others make it a good movie too, well scripted, Liota surprising, and Janine rocks as sidekick partner, love her role, v understated given her usual thing. The scene with Stallone and one of the good ones that had been taken, is actually really well done and short, simple, and sweet, but not overly done. I'm thoroughly enjoying this movie. I have been searching and sadly can't find much but I think it deserved more awards.