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Cop Land

Play trailer Poster for Cop Land R 1997 1h 45m Crime Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
75% Tomatometer 68 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
When hotheaded Superboy (Michael Rapaport) accidentally gets involved in an ugly racially-motivated incident, his uncle Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel), a corrupt New York City cop, attempts to sweep it under the rug by helping fake his nephew's death. The bungled cover-up leads to investigations by idealistic Internal Affairs officer Moe Tilden (Robert De Niro) and Freddy Heflin (Sylvester Stallone), sheriff of the suburban New Jersey town where Donlan and his fellow crooked policemen live.
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Cop Land

Cop Land

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Critics Consensus

Cop Land matches its star-studded cast with richly imagined characters while throttling the audience with carefully ratcheted suspense, although it lacks the moral complexity of classic crime thrillers.

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Critics Reviews

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Jason Bailey Flavorwire 08/26/2017
'Cop Land' holds up as a pretty good little thriller, a Sidney Lumet movie in a Martin Scorsese movie's clothing. Go to Full Review
Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly 04/09/2008
B-
Mangold certainly knew what he was doing when he cast Keitel and De Niro. Go to Full Review
David Edelstein Slate 04/09/2008
Cop Land shares its leading man's slow-wittedness, but also his likability. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Nov 26
3/4
Cop Land isn’t so much a police drama as a Western with a modern-day spin. Go to Full Review
Don Shanahan Every Movie Has a Lesson 07/18/2025
4/5
Dropping his flair and charisma, raising his voice up from his usual baritone range, and slouching into his character's pathetic frame, you forget in the first five minutes that you're watching John Rambo or Rocky Balboa. Go to Full Review
Akos Peterbencze Vulnerable Man (Medium) 07/21/2023
Cop Land, with its powerhouse cast and script, remains an underappreciated genre piece. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Landon J @Minxsykitty 5h I love when we get to see the hero's sad and soft side. Stallone's maybe best role? Has a lot to say about the way we treat and view law enforcement, crime, and society's rules and interactions between all. This is really like the cross between a chicken wing and a "The Departed". See more Chris S @Janomi 2d Cop Land is a really solid crime drama because Sylvester Stallone gives one of his best performances. Freddy Heflin is not the usual Stallone hero. He is quiet, insecure, overweight, half-deaf, and underestimated by almost everyone around him. Stallone strips away the action-star image and gives Freddy real sadness and decency. The small-town corruption premise is strong: a New Jersey community full of New York cops who have built their own protected kingdom. Harvey Keitel brings power and corruption, Ray Liotta brings guilt and desperation, and Robert De Niro gives the story outside pressure pushing Freddy toward the truth. The movie works as a slow-burn character drama, taking its time before Freddy finally acts. The final stand is emotionally satisfying, though the climax becomes a more familiar crime-thriller confrontation than the quieter buildup. Still, Cop Land is well acted, grounded, and very effective. See more J H @UpstateNYThriller 6d 6.5/10 Sylvester Stallone is a small town sheriff in Jersey outside NYC. Supposed to be like Fort Lee or Hackensack, but more rural. A bunch of corrupt New York City cops live in that town, and are corrupt. They’re under investigation, and Sylvester Stallone has to help. Late 90s movie Thriller, crime, NYC See more Ronnie M @spuncake Mar 28 Good movie....I love seeing Stallone play a different character . See more Ray C @RT17651982 Mar 25 I would’ve liked it more if the movie fleshed out the culture of Cop Land a bit. It’s obviously a big part of the story, but it never really takes the time to show the full mythology of this town made up entirely of corrupt cops. Cop Land ends up being a pretty average cop thriller, even with a stellar cast and a notable out-of-character performance from Sylvester Stallone. Aside from that, there just isn’t much here worth writing home about. See more Larry K @Larrymoses39 Jan 21 Good ending. Plot is a bit wonky though See more Read all reviews
Cop Land

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis When hotheaded Superboy (Michael Rapaport) accidentally gets involved in an ugly racially-motivated incident, his uncle Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel), a corrupt New York City cop, attempts to sweep it under the rug by helping fake his nephew's death. The bungled cover-up leads to investigations by idealistic Internal Affairs officer Moe Tilden (Robert De Niro) and Freddy Heflin (Sylvester Stallone), sheriff of the suburban New Jersey town where Donlan and his fellow crooked policemen live.
Director
James Mangold
Producer
Cary Woods, Ezra Swerdlow, Cathy Konrad
Screenwriter
James Mangold
Distributor
Miramax Films, Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co
Miramax Films, Woods Entertainment
Rating
R (Strong Language|Brief Nudity|Violence)
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 15, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$44.9M
Runtime
1h 45m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby Digital, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
35mm, Flat (1.85:1)