And finally from agent Tang, that spaceage powder which mystically travels throughout LA (you didn't really think that was smog did you?) and sees all, saw the final cut (well so far) of Miramax's COPLAND. Well those wacky Miramax guys with their outmoded concepts of putting good writers, directors, actors, and crews together has paid off again. Good work Tang, and keep traveling through out LA. Orange skies look like alien planets which are awfully geeky.
Hiya Harry. Just wanted to drop a line to let you know I saw the final cut of COP LAND, and the initial buzz was indeed correct: Stallone is aces in the movie, better than anyone could have hoped for. But the movie isn't just a comeback vehicle for him: It's actually a great police drama, and makes James Mangold a writer-director to be watched. This guy is an amazing writer, and the performances he's drawn out of everyone here, not just Stallone, are amazing (then again, he made Shelley Winters, Liv Tyler and Debbie Harry look good in HEAVY, so it shouldn't come as a surprise.)
After Stallone, my favorite performance in the film was DeNiro's, playing an internal affairs agent (he has one scene in this movie, which consists mostly of him telling all his co-workers "GO TO LUNCH!", that will become part of his tribute reel whenever they start giving him those honorary awards they always give great actors when they're getting old). Look out for a scene-stealing Janeane Garofalo, too: Is she one of the best actresses in the business today, or what?
As for the "trick" at the end of the movie, it works incredibly well. The climax of this film is one of the most suspenseful, heart-stopping shootouts I've ever seen. COP LAND is light on action and heavy on character development, and it's incredibly complicated, too. It probably won't make much money, but I thought the movie KICKED ASS.
Final note: It's easy to spot the "reshoots" they did at the last minute last month. Just look for the scene where Mangold uses a lot of extreme closeups of Stallone's eyes, and he's sitting behind a desk shuffling papers. Look carefully and you'll see his face looks a lot thinner than in the rest of the movie. They added the scene to clarify the tangle of relationships between the characters, so you'd have a better idea of who is double-crossing who, etc.
Source: Ain't-It-Cool-News!!!