
DATE: Monday, August 18, 1997               TAG: 9708160068

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E7   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   79 lines

SIMPLICITY, STORYLINE MAKE SUPERB COP TALE ONE FOR AGES

WHO SAYS they don't make Westerns anymore?

Here is a nifty, many-layered yarn about the lone sheriff in a new land across the river who must stand up, virtually alone, against the town's organized gang of bad guys. He's the outsider, the underdog who is taken for granted by the townsfolk. He could be Gary Cooper in ``High Noon.'' Actually, he's Sylvester Stallone in ``Cop Land.''

And never mind that the movie is set in New Jersey and the bad guys ride in black cars rather than ride black horses. It's still a Western at heart. Director-writer James Mangold, who has helmed a powerful cast to a create this little gem, claims that he had in mind an almost-forgotten Western called ``3:10 to Yuma.'' In fact, Stallone's character, a hearing-impaired law officer, is named Freddy Heflin, after Van Heflin who was one of the stars of ``3:10 to Yuma'' (the other was Glenn Ford).

``Cop Land'' gets my vote as a thoroughly enjoyable film that stands a good chance to survive time because it is drawn with such broad, simple strokes. There's nothing too subtle about it. It has obvious symbols and an obvious story line. We need more of these.

Garrison, N.J., is a town where New York cops live. Many of them are corrupt but the villains are not just bad. They have their reasons. They live in a world in which cops aren't respected the way they once were. Now, they're just garbage men. They clear the street of criminals one day, and the crooks are back on the street the next.

It's a modern world in which it's hard to figure out how to be a ``man.'' Hey, that's the same as it was in those Westerns. Everyday guys are embroiled in bureaucracy and red-tape which keeps them from being individuals. The system breeds a mob, not an individual.

Led by Harvey Keitel, the cops have established their own town across the river from Manhattan. There is seemingly no crime here. The town is run by the cops - much as Tombstone was run by the gang.

Robert De Niro is the interior investigator who wants to blow the whistle on this bunch. He knows it's a crooked town, but he can't get the proof. He was once a ``good'' cop, but now he's regarded as a lowlife squealer, the investigator. For the first time since ``Taxi Driver,'' De Niro squares off on screen against Keitel. It's riveting.

Stallone, after putting on 40 pounds and getting flabby for the part, is the sheriff who always wanted to be a real police officer over in New York. He impaired his hearing years ago when he saved a drowning girl by diving and removing her from a sinking car. Now, he's the resident clown - an alcoholic who directs traffic and gives parking tickets, merely a figurehead as a sheriff. If he can be placed in a ``supporting'' category, Stallone is likely to get his first Oscar nomination since ``Rocky.''

Ray Liotta, though, has the more complex role of the lot, as a cop who is on the edge and would kill to save himself. His former partner became a scapegoat for police brutality and killed himself in prison. Now, he's disillusioned with the force, as well as the world.

The large supporting cast is as good in their bits as the stars are in blending into an ensemble. Cathy Moriarty (``Raging Bull'') is Keitel's blowsy blonde wife, who obviously hates him but has to stay restrained. Annabella Sciorra is an abused wife, the woman poor Stallone has always loved but has been too shy to approach. They have a tragic scene that wrenches the heart. Janeane Garofalo, playing it straight, has a bit as a policewoman who doesn't know most of the town is protected from speeding tickets.

Perhaps best of the lot is that open dumb-dumb face of Michael Rapaport, who is perfect at playing oafish New York Street guys who bumble about.

Garrison, N.J., as it turns out, is not really so far from Tombstone, Ariz. All the performers are wonderful - and so is the film. ILLUSTRATION: MIRAMAX

Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone star in director James

Mangold's ``Cop Land.''

MOVIE REVIEW

``Cop Land''

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De

Niro, Janeane Garofalo, Michael Rapaport, Annabella Sciorra, Peter

Berg, Robert Patrick

Director and Writer: James Mangold

MPAA rating: R (violence, language)

Mal's rating: ****