James Mangold directs this cop thriller with a a top notch cast. This tense action thriller explodes with nonstop excitement and riveting star performances Sylvester Stallone stars as a sheriff Freddy Heflin , the place were everyone calls copland in New Jersey a small seemingly peaceful town in the buroughs of New York populated by big city police officers he long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town's peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive deadly conspiracy among those local residents , he is forced to take action- and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law Di Niro Harvey Keitel Ray liotta head an incredible cast in this highly acclaimed thriller. I gave this a 7/10 this is my 240 review, Enjoy.

This movie is not a masterpiece, but it is such an abnormal character for Sly that it is worth seeing.This isn't a fast action paced movie, things evolved at their own rhythm and the end if not surprising is more realistic. A good movie to see, probably not one you will put in your top3 cop movie but not a bad one.

Stallone, who I respect as an action star...is put into a role not suited for his best attributes. The movie wants to play a a suspense building melodrama but it comes off as a simple Stallone who cannot see the forest for his slow witlessness. Later in the film they try to spark his aggression as a 11th round 'Rocky' type of fulfillment but it just comes off as a weak cop who has has just enough to nudge him over the edge. Justice? Stallone ignores it for most of the film and suddenly finds his guiding light after days/weeks (movie time) of plodding along being a sheep. Overall: too slow a climax buildup, weak climax buildup, and trying to force a stud actor into a slow, plodding role which he cannot play. Just feels wrong.

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.