Cop Land

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Cop Land

R,

1997,

1h 45m,

Crime/

Drama/

Mystery & Thriller

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Watchlist

75%

69 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

50,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

75%

Tomatometer

69 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

When hotheaded Superboy (Michael Rapaport) accidentally gets involved in an ugly racially-motivated incident, his uncle Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel), a corrupt New York City cop, attempts to sweep it under the rug by helping fake his nephew's death. The bungled cover-up leads to investigations by idealistic Internal Affairs officer Moe Tilden (Robert De Niro) and Freddy Heflin (Sylvester Stallone), sheriff of the suburban New Jersey town where Donlan and his fellow crooked policemen live.

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Critics Consensus

Cop Land matches its star-studded cast with richly imagined characters while throttling the audience with carefully ratcheted suspense, although it lacks the moral complexity of classic crime thrillers.

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Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

Aug 26, 2017

'Cop Land' holds up as a pretty good little thriller, a Sidney Lumet movie in a Martin Scorsese movie's clothing.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Apr 9, 2008

B-

Mangold certainly knew what he was doing when he cast Keitel and De Niro.

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David Edelstein

Slate

Apr 9, 2008

Cop Land shares its leading man's slow-wittedness, but also his likability.

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Luke Buckmaster

Flicks (AU, NZ, UK)

Aug 6, 2026

The film didn’t receive the recognition it deserved upon release, but hopefully its reputation will continue to ripen, as a rare cop movie more interested in morals than machismo.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 26, 2025

3/4

Cop Land isn’t so much a police drama as a Western with a modern-day spin.

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Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

Jul 18, 2025

4/5

Dropping his flair and charisma, raising his voice up from his usual baritone range, and slouching into his character's pathetic frame, you forget in the first five minutes that you're watching John Rambo or Rocky Balboa.

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Harry S

Mar 5, 2019

Totally underrated movie. Sylvester Stalloneï¿ 1/2(TM)s performance is excellent. I watch this movie at least once a year...

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Jan 31, 2019

The best inspiring movie ever made!

Hagrid R

Nov 26, 2018

A Scorsese-eque film that has increasingly shaky relationships between the characters until reaching a boiling point that can not be contained any longer. A very enjoyable action-drama.

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Rey W

Sep 11, 2018

Weird that it took me so long to watch given the cast. Look, Cop Land isn't the best movie in the filmography of anybody involved, but it was a worthwhile watch, and a nice way to break up the crap horror we've been on a bender of lately.

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Finn S

Aug 21, 2018

Great script, great cast, overall a memorable crime-drama from a talented director. Stallone stars as a small town Sheriff who's eaten a few too many donuts. Harvey Keitel plays the heavy, a crooked cop who runs things his way, until a thorough Internal Affairs investigator (De Niro) starts putting the screws to him. If you like fast-paced cop movie, Cop Land will not disappoint if you ignore some logic here and there. Just relax your brain and let the story and acting absorb you.

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Leia S

Jul 29, 2018

A movie with a cast such as this one, would never be something to ignore. Of course, the cast is probably 90% of this movies' worth, however, it's got a captivating plot, it's undeniably well done and, in fact, it has in the cast's performances notably excellent acting: Robert de Niro and Harvey Keitel are... Robert de Niro and Harvey Keitel, which means that by watching Cop Land you'll get bonafide East Coast/NY/NJ representations of the finest badass guys, no matter if they're cops or crooks or godfathers of crime. Ray Liotta delivers a great performance, too. But Sylvester Stallone gives a totally honest acting, making us believe that he, just like his character, has never been anything but an 'underdog'. The iconic part might be Springsteen's "Drive All Night" playing as Stallone's depression hits in the middle of the night, adding another East Coast/NY/NJ badass to the story.

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James Mangold

Director

Sylvester Stallone

Sheriff Freddy Heflin

Harvey Keitel

Ray Donlan

Ray Liotta

Gary "Figgsy" Figgis

Robert De Niro

Lt. Moe Tilden

Peter Berg

Joey Randone

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Synopsis

When hotheaded Superboy (Michael Rapaport) accidentally gets involved in an ugly racially-motivated incident, his uncle Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel), a corrupt New York City cop, attempts to sweep it under the rug by helping fake his nephew's death. The bungled cover-up leads to investigations by idealistic Internal Affairs officer Moe Tilden (Robert De Niro) and Freddy Heflin (Sylvester Stallone), sheriff of the suburban New Jersey town where Donlan and his fellow crooked policemen live.

Director: James Mangold
Producer: Cary Woods, Ezra Swerdlow, Cathy Konrad
Screenwriter: James Mangold
Distributor: Miramax Films, Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co: Miramax Films, Woods Entertainment
Rating: R (Strong Language|Brief Nudity|Violence)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $44.9M
Runtime: 1h 45m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Digital, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.85:1)

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