Cop Car (2015)Reviewed for TheBluFile.com by Dustin Putman
(Release Date: September 29, 2015) – Two 10-year-old runaways pick the wrong unmanned police cruiser to take for a joyride in "Cop Car," a stripped-down, steadily simmering thriller from writer-director Jon Watts (whose feature debut, the intensely creepy "
Clown," began as a fake trailer that turned into a viral sensation). Harrison (Hays Wellford) and Travis (James Freedson-Jackson) are making their way by foot across the rural Colorado countryside when they come upon a patrol car. Their childish games of running up to touch the vehicle before hiding again in the underbrush escalate quickly once it looks like there is no officer in sight. When they find the car keys hidden in the sun visor, they cannot stop themselves from heading out for a wild drive. What they do not know is that the car belongs to crooked Sheriff Mitch Kretzer (Kevin Bacon), and the body of one of his recent victims is still in the trunk.
"Cop Car" reminds of a slightly simplified "Blood Simple"/"Fargo"/"
No Country for Old Men"-style Coen Brothers movie that happens to star a pair of prepubescent kids. The screenplay by Watts and Christopher Ford aims for mood and quietly mounting tension over corkscrew plotting, its straightforwardness an attribute until the third act misses the opportunity to dig deeper and find purpose beneath its thin surface veneer. If it is never clear what the ultimate purpose of the picture is rather than, perhaps, as a cautionary fable about the dangers of breaking the law in an already unforgiving adult world, Watt's directorial deftness is never in doubt. There isn't a wasted frame to be hand, grabbing one's attention from the start as young Harrison and Travis' misguided juvenile decisions move ever closer to colliding with Kevin Bacon's (2015's "
Black Mass") desperate, menacing Sheriff Kretzer. "Cop Car" is involving enough for the viewer to wish the film would better explore its narrow handful of characters rather than as pawns in an inevitable violent showdown. Nevertheless, as an envoy for beautifully lonesome wide open spaces and pure slow-burn suspense, it rattles along with undeniable know-how.
A/A
If you're looking for a downside to the 1080p image on Universal's Blu-ray of "Cop Car," you won't find it here. The film looks stunning in high-def, an exceptionally sharp presentation bursting to richly colorful life from the start: flashing red-and-blue opening titles, emulating the appearance of police sirens hidden in each block letter. The golden fields, the green grass and trees, the sweeping blue skies, the clothing textures, the lines and pores on each face, the splatters of red—each shot permeates eye-popping detail and clarity while staying true to the authenticity of Matthew J. Lloyd and Larkin Seiple's cinematography. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is equally superb, as robust and immersive in its quieter score-driven moments as it is in its bursts of action. Listening to this lossless track is akin to be transported to its rustic Midwestern locations.
- "Their First and Last Ride: The Making of Cop Car" Featurette (2:26, HD)
"Cop Car" received a relatively quiet theatrical release following its premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, but a much larger receptive audience is destined for its future now that it is on Blu-ray and digital. Despite not going anywhere all that surprising, the film commands attention for its no-nonsense narrative and unsuspectingly riveting crime story. Despite the R-rating, older kids of around 12 and up should be all over this. Following his debut "Clown" and now "Cop Car," director Jon Watts is a filmmaker to watch.
Recommended.
