Sylvester Stallone’s career has been littered with hits and misses, but one underrated crime thriller is finally getting its dues on Paramount+. In 1997, Stallone teamed up with A Complete Unknown and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny filmmaker James Mangold to deliver Cop Land, an underseen movie that topped up its supporting cast with Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, and Robert De Niro. Now the film is chalking up an impressive win on the Paramount+ global streaming chart, sitting at number four at the time of writing.
They synopsis of Cop Land reads, “When hotheaded Superboy (Michael Rapaport) accidentally gets involved in an ugly racially-motivated incident, his uncle Ray Donlan (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 (De Niro) and Freddy Heflin (Stallone), sheriff of the suburban New Jersey town where Donlan and his fellow crooked policemen live.”
Related
Sylvester Stallone Regrets Turning Down This Oscar-Winning Vietnam War Romance Movie
The lead role in ‘Coming Home’ was reserved for Stallone. After he turned it down, it was offered to Jon Voight, who won Best Actor.
The film does not blow away either critics or audiences when it comes to reviews, but there is certainly no reason to be put off by either. With a 75% Tomatometer score and 67% audience rating, the main issue with the movie is that it perhaps does not delve into the kind of intricate character development of the likes of Mystic River, and it doesn’t fall into the action category of many of Stallone’s movies. However, it presents a solid crime thriller that entertains and provides just enough suspense to make up for its other failings.
Sylvester Stallone is Back in Crime on Paramount+ With ‘Tulsa King’
Paramount
While Cop Land may have been released almost 30 years ago, there are many movies getting the love they never achieved on their release thanks to appearances across several streaming platforms, where they are more accessible than when fans either had to buy a DVD or wait for them to appear on a cable channel. Cop Land was a hit in cinemas on its original release, chalking up a gross of $63 million against its low $15 million budget, and now it is experiencing a resurgence it rightly deserves.
Stallone himself has been having a similar revival recently, as, along with starring roles in DC and Marvel movies, the actor has become a dominant force in television thanks to his lead role in Taylor Sheridan’s Tulsa King. In the series, Stallone steps effortlessly into the role of Mafia boss Dwight “the General” Manfredi, and has found himself right at home. Fans of Cop Land will find plenty to like about Tulsa King, and, of course, Stallone fans have already been lapping up the series, which is currently preparing to release a third season later this year.
While you wait, you can find Cop Land streaming on Paramount+, and there could be a lot of worse ways to kill a couple of hours.
Source: FlixPatrol
Release Date
August 15, 1997
Runtime
104 minutes
Producers
Bob Weinstein, Cary Woods, Cathy Konrad, Ezra Swerdlow, Harvey Weinstein
You can view the original article HERE.
