Line #29 Film/CopCar


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0897.JPG]]
2
3	->''"Boys, I know you can hear me. You are in a whole lot of trouble."''
4	-->-- '''Sheriff Kretzer'''
5
6	''Cop Car'' is a 2015 thriller directed and co-written by Creator/JonWatts.
7
8	Two young boys, Harrison and Travis, have run away into the wilderness when they come across an abandoned, unlocked police cruiser and decide to take it out for a joy ride. Unfortunately, the car's owner, the [[DirtyCop thoroughly corrupt]] Sheriff Kretzer (Creator/KevinBacon), ''really'' needs it back. And he certainly doesn't want anyone to find out what's in the trunk....
9	----
10	!!Tropes:
11
12	* AllThereInTheManual: The name of the driving lady, Bev, is only given in the credits and not actually mentioned in the film.
13	* AndYourLittleDogToo: To get Harrison and Travis to comply, [[spoiler:the guy in the trunk]] threatens, in ''vivid detail'', to first kill their pets and then their loved ones.
14	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:The sheriff and the man in the trunk, both murderous scumbags who threaten children, are dead by the end]].
15	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Sheriff Kretzer. His conversations with the dispatch officer suggest that he is well-liked by his staff and he is polite to everyone he meets, but underneath the facade he is a profoundly dirty cop.
16	* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:Bev is killed by the man in the trunk this way]].
17	* BreakTheCutie: At the beginning, the boys are mischievous but still the typical happy and naive kids they are but the emotional toll they have at being [[spoiler:threatened by the man in the trunk and the sheriff, witness the murder of [[InnocentBystander Bev]], being caught in a violent crossfire, and Travis being shot took an emotional toll on them]].
18	* BulletProofVest: While playing around with the Sheriff's guns, Harrison and Travis try to see if the body armor they find is really bulletproof by having Harrison wear it and Travis try to shoot it. Thankfully, he fails to fire the gun.
19	* TheCameo: You may not recognize it, but the voice of the dispatch officer, Miranda, is done by Creator/KyraSedgwick, Bacon's wife.
20	* ChekhovsGun: Early on, Harrison establishes that he can hide things in his jacket's inside sleeve. Later, he hides a pistol on his jacket, Later still, he makes use of it.
21	* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:Bev, who reappears during the climax and plays an instrumental part in the shootout between the sheriff and the guy in the trunk]].
22	* DirtyCop: Sheriff Kretzer, whose crimes seem to include drug dealing and murder.
23	* DisappearedDad: Whenever asked about his parents, Travis specifically points out he lives with his mother and stepfather, with the status of his biological father being unknown.
24	* DisposingOfABody: In his first scene, the sheriff is getting rid of two bodies by dumping them in a pit in the ground and adding quicklime.
25	* EveryoneHasStandards: Harrison swears almost as much as Travis but hesitates at saying "fuck", believing it's the worst kind of swear.
26	* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: The man in the trunk shoots and kills Bev]] solely because [[spoiler: she gives his position away to the sheriff]].
27	* FreeRangeChildren: Harrison and Travis, who spend the film wandering around in the wilderness and driving the cop car, have run away from home.
28	* GenreMashup: The film combines a crime thriller with a teen ComingOfAgeStory.
29	* TheGhost: The boys' respective guardians are only mentioned never seen or heard of.
30	* IKnowMortalKombat: Harrison and Travis think they're qualified to drive a car because they've played ''Videogame/MarioKart''.
31	* InnocentBystander: [[spoiler:Bev, during the shootout]].
32	* KickTheDog:
33	** [[spoiler:The man in the trunk taking the boys hostage despite them freeing him and then threatening the lives of their loved ones]].
34	** [[spoiler:The sheriff using Bev's life to find out where the man in the trunk is]].
35	* KidsDrivingCars: Taking a joy ride in a cop car.
36	* MacGyvering: In one scene, the sheriff manages to unlock a car through the window by tying his bootlace into a little noose and pulling up the car's doorlock.
37	* {{Minimalism}}: The film has no exposition, and everything is presented in a simple and stripped down style, letting the audience figure it out.
38	* NewOldWest: The desert visual aesthetic evokes westerns, and the film is about a corrupt sheriff.
39	* NoEnding: [[spoiler:Travis has been shot in the stomach by a ricocheting bullet and Harrison is driving as fast as he can to get him to a hospital. The dispatcher attempts to contact the car, Harrison responds, and the film cuts to credits.]]
40	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: The boys decides to free [[spoiler:the man in the trunk and the latter then forces them to help him]].
41	* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler:The guy in the trunk]] is never named, not in the film or in the credits.
42	* PunctuatedPounding: "You don't. Steal. [[PrecisionFStrike A FUCKING]]. [[TitleDrop COP CAR!]]"
43	* RaisedByGrandparents: Harrison is taken care of by his grandfather.
44	* RecklessGunUsage: Harrison and Travis spend some time playing with the guns and equipment they find in the cop car. Luckily, the guns all have their safeties on, preventing them from actually firing them.
45	* RedOniBlueOni: Harrison (Blue) is noticeably more cautious and less confident than Travis (Red), who is the biggest drive of the ride. Harrison wears a blue jacket, while Travis's clothing tones are warmer.
46	* TheRunaway: Harrison and Travis are running away from home. The opening scene consists of them rationing their food (a single Slim Jim) and talking about making it to the forest.
47	* TheSheriff: Kretzer.
48	* SirSwearsALot: Travis, who uses some profanity throughout the film. During the opening scene, he says a bunch of dirty words and gets Harrison to repeat them.
49	* SpannerInTheWorks: Travis and Harrison, completely unintentionally, screw up the sheriff's plan to dispose of two bodies by stealing his parked police car.
50	* UngratefulBastard: If hadn't been for the boys, [[spoiler:the man in the trunk]] would've been murdered by the sheriff or died [[spoiler:in the trunk]]. How does he repay their kindness? Hold them hostage and use them in his revenge plan.
51	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Bev, who sees Harrison and Travis on the road. While she means well, it is her report of them driving the car that leads the Sheriff to them. [[spoiler:Also, during the climax of the film, she gets the man in the trunk to reveal his position while under the impression that she is helping the sheriff]].
52	* UnwittingPawn: The sheriff [[spoiler:uses Bev to find out the exact location of the man in the trunk]].
53	* TheVoice: Miranda, the dispatch officer, is frequently heard on the sheriff's phone, but never seen.
54	* WouldHitAGirl: [[spoiler:The man in the trunk shoots Bev in the head]].
55	* WouldHurtAChild: Sheriff Kretzer and [[spoiler:the man in the trunk]] have no problem in threatening to harm or actually attempting to kill the boys.
56	* WoundedGazelleGambit: During the climax, [[spoiler:the sheriff pretends to be injured for Bev to get her to go looking for some car keys that were supposedly thrown away to use Bev for exposing the man in the trunk's position]].
57	* XanatosSpeedChess: Sheriff Kretzer is surprisingly good at making up plans on the fly and getting out of sticky situations relying mostly on his wits and his authority as Sheriff. In one scene, he gets pulled over driving a stolen car and gets away [[spoiler:by making a fake report of a robber in the area on his cell phone so the motorcycle cop will focus on that and let him go]].

Context Film / CopCar