This is one of the best crime dramas i have ever seen. It has decent ratings, but deserves higher.

In 1997 this was Director Mangold's first venture into big time Hollywood, and look at the cast, Robert De Niro, Liotta, Keitel, but the biggest surprise (even to himself) was Stallone. The latter plays the overweight, overlooked sap of a Sheriff, Freddy Heflin, who is charged with looking after 'Copland', being the homes and families of the the 'real' cops who work over the river.This is an excellent ensemble cast that really shines in their roles, and Stallone, as I said before, is a revelation. He piled on about 40lbs to play the part, so what we see is not the pumped-up, testosterone driven action man we have come to know and love, but a quieter, humbler, slightly "slow," kind-a bumbling character. Sad and ineffectual, he's barely tolerated by Donlan and his cronies, who's company he so desperately wants to keep. The story is tight and economical, the dialogue has the ring of authenticity to it, and there's a bitter-sweet romantic sub-plot between Freddy and one of the town's residents that works perfectly within the story. There's a scene where he's asked, by the woman he secretly loves, why he didn't marry, "All the best girls were taken," he replies, and you can practically see the big guy's heart breaking in two! The scene where Stallone and Sciorra finally come together in his home to the Springsteen songs "Stolen Car" and "Drive All Night" (both from his 1980 double album "The River") is both tender and beautifully judged. The acting too is uniformly brilliant. Keitel is all power corrupted (lets a fellow officer fall from a TV aerial who's been soiling his sheets at home), DeNiro is the driven investigator trying to bring truth back to the force and Liotta is a cocksure wise-ass cop - until an insurance scam fire-bombing he arranged goes drastically wrong. The sweating jerky Michael Rapaport as Babitch is superb too - suspecting that his life is not just screwed but in danger from his 'pals'. All are fabulous. But its Stallone's journey back to being a real man and doing what's right that keeps you glued.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

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.

This movie is an absolute gem! A slow burn, no doubt, but every scene -every moment- pays off.I wonder how different this movie's legacy would be if it were released nowadays. Everything that audiences love about Breaking Bad or True Detective etc is here in spades.In fact, I'd argue that this film is the 2nd season of True Detective that people wanted. An absolute perfect urban western.And the performances are just incredible. Every single actor is bringing their "A" game, and an argument could be made that each one gives one of the, if not THE, best performances of their careers. I wish Stallone would do more movies like this, because he clearly has the chops. Deniro as well (who has since become regulated to flaccid studio fare). Just because he can't pull off Cape Fear excellence anymore doesn't mean he has to do The Intern.I hope something happens that causes people to revisit this film.