Line #15 Film/CopLand


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0783.JPG]]
2
3	->''"I look at this town, and I don't like what I see."''
4	-->-- '''Sheriff Freddy Heflin'''
5
6	''Cop Land'' is a 1997 crime drama written and directed by Creator/JamesMangold, starring Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/HarveyKeitel, Creator/RayLiotta, and Creator/RobertDeNiro.
7
8	The story follows Freddy Heflin (Stallone), a New Jersey sheriff who is charged with keeping order in a tight-knit community of [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCityCops New York police officers]]. Such a neighborhood might be expected to handle its own business, and this is exactly how the residents see it. Thus, Heflin's authority is rarely taken seriously and he is often dismissed by the locals.
9
10	Matters around town are complicated when one of its members is involved in a questionable off-duty shooting and goes missing. It doesn't take long for InternalAffairs to come sniffing around in the form of Moe Tilden (De Niro), who thanks to [[JurisdictionFriction jurisdiction]] must rely almost entirely on Heflin for his investigation to bear any fruit. Consequently, Heflin finds himself pulled in multiple directions, as more facts about the case--and about the town itself--begin rising to the surface.
11	----
12	!!This film contains examples of:
13	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Garrison, New Jersey, is depicted as a relatively suburban-looking town that just so happens to be across the river from New York City. In truth, towns and localities immediately surrounding New York (a city of close to 9 million people, mind you) are heavily urbanized.
14	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Joey Randone]] is an [[SmugSnake unpleasant]], [[DomesticAbuse wife-beating]] thug, so it's easy not to feel too bad when [[spoiler: Ray Donlan lets him fall to his death.]]
15	* AsYouKnow: Figgsy helpfully sums up Freddy's backstory by lecturing him about all the reasons why he should be jealous of the city cops.
16	* BadBadActing: Ray yelling "Oh my God! He jumped!" to fake Murray's suicide is... less than convincing. [[spoiler:It's because he's distracting everyone from the fact that Murray's actually hiding in his car.]]
17	* BatmanGambit: Moe Tilden deliberately insults and pisses Freddy off, expecting him to start an investigation in his own town, where Tilden has no jurisdiction; and that said investigation will stir up the dirty cops enough for them to make errors and give IA a new boost in their own case. [[spoiler:He's right on every count.]]
18	* BenevolentBoss: Freddy is patient and pleasant with his two deputies and doesn't resent them when they decide that [[spoiler:ScrewThisImOuttaHere.]]
19	* BrokenPedestal: Freddy, having a rose-tinted view of New York cops, idolizes Donlan and initially lets his men do what they want in his town. This changes as he comes to realize how dirty they really are.
20	* ButtMonkey: Freddy.
21	* ChangedMyMindKid: [[spoiler: Figgsy]] returns at the end to save Freddy during the climactic shootout.
22	* ConscienceMakesYouGoBack: Figgsy, on the highway driving away to start a new life, yells at someone (obviously his conscience) to shut up and leave him alone, and then angrily hits the brakes and drives back to Garrison, having resolved to go back and help Freddy.
23	* CowboyCop: Murray ”Superboy” Babitch, Jack Rucker and Joey Randone. Eventually Freddy becomes this in the end to save the day.
24	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: No one takes Freddy seriously as any kind of law enforcer, but have you seen him shoot, or in action?
25	* CurbStompBattle: Method Man vs. two cops? He KICKS BOTH of the cops asses with ease. He first destroys and cuts up Randone’s partner, then manhandles Randone and throws him off the roof!
26	* DangerTakesABackseat: Freddy gets into his patrol car and is greeted by Frankie LaGonda, one of Ray’s right hand men in the backseat as he tries to intimidate Freddy into standing down with his investigation.
27	* DeathByCameo: Subverted. [[Music/WuTangClan Method Man]] makes a cameo [[spoiler:just to kill Joey Randone.]]
28	* DeathIsDramatic: Figgsy’s girlfriend Monica. She got caught during a fire bombing at his house, which he planned to collect the insurance so they could both leave town and start over but Figgsy didn’t mean for her to get caught in the fire and his tears clearly show [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone his pain and regret for inadvertently getting her killed.]]
29	* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: The dirty cops plant a gun in the black teenagers' car to confirm Murray's story that they were armed and shooting at him, but it's immediately foiled by an angry paramedic who tosses the gun away.
30	* DidNotGetTheGirl: Freddy loves Liz (the girl he saved when he lost half of his hearing in the {{Backstory}}), but she married another man. [[spoiler:Even after his death, she leaves town while being on somewhat poor terms with Freddy.]]
31	* DirtyCop: It doesn't take long to figure this out regarding most of the cast.
32	* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Joey Randone]] gets this off camera.
33	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The Sheriff's honesty is established in an early scene where he's in need of quarters and opens a parking meter's coin box to break his dollar, leaving the bill folded up inside when he's done.
34	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Randone is a DirtyCop and DomesticAbuser, but he's rattled by Ray's decision to sacrifice his nephew's life.
35	* ExtremeDoormat: Freddy once again. His admiration for the NYPD, Ray and the fact he looks the other way when they commit criminal acts just reeks of subservience. Freddy has hearing problems, but his aim with a pistol establishes that his vision is outstanding, so there's no doubt whatsoever that he saw and identified Babitch looking at him in the back of Ray's car. Not to mention he has no problem with the fact they have VERY little respect his authority.
36	* FakingTheDead: After an attempt to plant fake evidence fails, Murray and the dirty cops fake the former's suicide by pretending he jumped off the bridge while hiding in the back of one of their cars.
37	* FloatingHeadSyndrome
38	* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler:Figgsy burns down his own house in a way that makes it come off like an accidental electrical fire to get the insurance money for it which he could then use to leave with his girlfriend Monica and get a fresh new start elsewhere. Unfortunately, while the fire worked well enough that no one other than Freddy realized it was arson and Figgsy got the insurance money, Monica had come by earlier that evening (Figgsy had planned to do it that day because she’d be at a friend’s house) wanting to tell Figgsy something, and ended up getting caught in the fire and dying from the severe burns she sustained. Figgsy’s reaction when he sees her die and his state of grief afterwards makes it clear he deeply regrets what happened, not even being sure whether it was worth it]].
39	* GreaterScopeVillain: Mob boss Toy Torillo is the man all of the {{dirty cop}}s are working for, but he only appears in a couple of newspaper photos and isn't directly involved in the central intrigue surrounding Murray Babitch.
40	* HeelFaceTurn: Gary Figgis near the end of the film, represented by literally slamming on his brakes as he's leaving town.
41	* IdiotBall: Yes, the shooting was unjustified and Murray was driving drunk and Donlan's group used corrupt means to cover up what really happened, but it was still a ''very'' dumb move for the motorist to [[ShootHimHeHasAWallet brandish a steering wheel lock at Murray]] as if it was a shotgun ''after'' Murray showed him his badge, which should have clued him in that Murray could be armed.
42	* InternalAffairs: Given the storyline, they're naturally involved.
43	* {{Jerkass}}: Most of the DirtyCops are this but Randone and Rucker take the cake as the both of them are MASSIVE douches especially Randone as he not only physically and verbally his wife but cheats on her with Ray’s wife Rose...
44	* JerkassHasAPoint: Tilden may sound like an asshole when he grills Freddy about not really being a cop and not having much to do in patrolling the town, but he is right the locals have no respect for his authority, and due to the town being populated with cops, (who are backed by the mob) criminals just avoid it at all costs.
45	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
46	** Tilden might be curt and somewhat abrasive but he’s dedicated to his job and wants to expose the charade that Garrison really is.
47	** Figgis also qualifies for this as well as he is the only one who takes Freddy seriously and he eventually puts aside his own selfish reasons to help him bring down Ray.
48	* JurisdictionFriction: The NYPD officers vs. their own IAD and a New Jersey sheriff's department.
49	* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Randone]]'s killer gets away with killing him.
50	* KickTheDog: Jack deafening Freddy. See LaserGuidedKarma below.
51	* LaserGuidedKarma: Ray's fellow DirtyCop fires his gun next to Freddy's left ear to completely deafen him. When Freddy later mortally wounds Ray in the climatic shootout, his final condemning swears to Freddy go unheard as he points out that [[TheDogBitesBack "I can't hear you, Ray"]].
52	* LoopholeAbuse: Tilden explains in his opening narration how transit cops were the only cops allowed to take up residence outside of New York (since the Transit Authority is partly run by New Jersey and Connecticut). Donlan's group worked overtime in subway stations to get themselves designated "auxiliary transit cops", which allowed them to set up shop in Garrison.
53	* NewOldWest: Garrison, New Jersey, is a prime example; director James Mangold himself cited the film as a neo-western.
54	* NiceGuy: Freddy is probably the only nice person in a world filled with corrupted and evil cops.
55	* PoliceAreUseless: Every other cop who isn't Freddy Heflin is either corrupt, incompetent, or both.
56	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The {{Dirty Cop}}s make some less than flattering remarks about black people at the scene of the initial shooting, which involves black teenagers. Jack in particular tries to plant evidence in their car, only for the nearby Hispanic paramedics to call him out on it.
57	* PopTheTires: Murray thought one of the teenagers he shot did this to him. [[ShootHimHeHasAWallet He was wrong.]]
58	* RedemptionEarnsLife: Figgsy's reward for helping Freddy deal with Ray and the other crooked cops and redeeming himself for being involved with them is that he survives the end of the film.
59	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: A couple of cases as the film reaches its climax.
60	** As Freddy starts ramping up his investigation, Cindy Betts requests a transfer back to her old job, as she's tired of dealing with the overwhelming corruption in Garrison and she doesn't want to have to deal with the trouble the NYPD will bring her if she assists Freddy.
61	** When Freddy [[spoiler: manages to capture Murray Babitch]], Bill Geisler expresses a nervous desire to return home to his pregnant wife, rather than stand guard and potentially await the wrath of [[spoiler: Ray and his subordinates]].
62	** Figgsy skips town after [[spoiler: burning down his house and obtaining the insurance money]], telling Freddy that he wants a clean start. [[spoiler: He changes his mind by the end of the film.]]
63	* ShootHimHeHasAWallet: The initial shooting happens because a drunk-driving Murray thinks one of the victims shot out one of his tires, when in fact the victim was taunting him with a steering wheel lock and the tire was popped by a leftover shard of glass from the beer bottle that Murray crushed while leaving a parking lot. Jack is then caught trying to plant evidence of a gun in the car to try to vindicate him.
64	* SteelEarDrums: Averted when a firearm discharge is deliberately used to deafen Freddy, who’s already deaf in his right ear. However, it's only temporary, as the ending voice-over mentions.
65	* TitleDrop: Moe Tilden (De Niro) refers to the community in Freddy Heflin's (Stallone) jurisdiction as "Cop Land." He ends up dropping the tagline in one of his narrations as well.
66	* TokenGoodCop: Freddy is the sheriff of a town inhabited by [[spoiler:corrupt]] [=NYPD=] cops, who commute to work, and their families. He holds his actions to a higher standard than they do, while receiving no support except from his deputies (who both eventually ScrewThisImOuttaHere), an InternalAffairs cop, and local resident Figgsy, who has a corrupt past that he is trying to break free from.
67	* [[TownWithADarkSecret Town with Dark Secrets]]: Garrison, New Jersey. Seemingly peaceful from the outside, but in reality is a fiefdom for corrupt cops.
68	* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: Averted. The camera zooms out from the paper Heflin is reading to show the stories related to the incident completely fill two pages. He then closes the paper to reveal the front page is devoted to it as well. The exposure of an entire town packed with corrupt cops [[spoiler: which is then involved in a massive gunfight]] would probably be pretty big local news.

Context Film / CopLand