Cop Car (2015) Review!!

Synopsis – A small town sheriff sets out to find the two kids who have taken his car on a joy ride.

My Take – This film is a very good example of a film that keeps things simple while never forgetting to entertain and surprise. Starring just five people, it’s well acted, photographed and directed. It has well-handled suspense and characters you actually like. While many films use the device of a “real time” narrative for effect (ie, where the viewer is given the sense that he/she is a participant in real time in the story) very few films run the device for the full length. A perfect example of this would be the awesome Tom Cruise – Jamie Fox starrer Michael Mann directed Collateral. Thumbs up for director Jon Watts for pulling off an awesome Indie & a salute to Kevin Bacon, who not only helped produce the film but also provides the balancing act between malice and satire. Nobody does it better this year. The story follows two rebellious kids Harrison (Hays Wellford) and Travis (newcomer James Freedson-Jackson) who have run away from their homes. Their reasoning is never made clear, or even discussed. Nevertheless they stumble upon an abandoned cop car in the middle of the woods & decide to go on a joy ride, kids now days seriously! The car belonged to the corrupt Sheriff Kretzer (Kevin Bacon), who had parked his car in the woods to dump a body while the boys abscond with his car.

If things where not bad enough, the kids are spotted by on going driver Bev (Camryn Manheim) who calls it in, causing more trouble for the Sheriff who is worried about the contains of his trunk, a nameless dude (Shea Whigham). The adults are bogeymen from any boy’s nightmare, and the boys are innocently bad experiencing their own mischievousness and their fascination with irresponsibility—such as high-speed driving and loaded guns. Rather than filling us in on the likely depressing blanks of these boys’ home lives, Watts smartly drops us right into their rebellion. Do not let the simplicity of the set-up put you off though, as this is a lean film with a lot of good things about it. Firstly, we have the two young boys who are a great central pairing; they really act like genuine kids and are very sympathetic and humorous throughout. Secondly, we have Kevin Bacon giving yet another good performance as the bad cop. Thirdly, this is well-paced and builds quite a bit of tension as events escalate to an ending that is a little surprising. Fourthly, it’s a rather well photographed and scored affair, with the sparse Colorado plains scenery shot nicely in widescreen. The film moves at a slow pace, showing us the dull reality that these kids inhabit instead of making their imaginations flow out aesthetically. Their escape: a cop car with two guns. They pretend to shoot bad guys and look down the barrels like they’re searching for something that may not be there. Of course, these kinds of acts are passed off in a darkly humorous and uncomfortable fashion. We know something is going to go wrong with two pre-teens and a couple of handguns, but we don’t know when or how. That’s the conceit here. It’s what director/writer Jon Watts wants to play around with until the tension becomes unbearable. And for the most part, it totally works. Director Jon Watts is less interested in plot detail than mood. The only problem here in my opinion was the end. When Kretzer finally catches up with the boys and the secret is let out (literally), the film becomes something totally different. What started as these kids’ escape from reality turned into a rushed, coming-of-age third act, totally contradicting everything that happened before it. I’m not saying that the final act should have turned out as an eye opener for the childish duo, just that it shouldn’t feel so forced into such an easy conclusion that settles on a predictable twist. I’m unclear on what to make of the film’s ending. I understand it is meant to be ambiguous and, given the lack of information dispensed throughout, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

Even so, I felt it lacked the gravitas it appeared to be going for. It’s a possible result of investing so much only to be left hanging, or hell, maybe I’m just a sucker for an ending. In any case, this one is worth the journey. Kevin Bacon seems to be having the most fun in years as the near mustache-twirling seedy sheriff. Every single time his character has some serious character beat that’s meant to show off how dangerous and serious he is, the moment is directly followed up with him bumbling over something to try to track these kids down. Breaking down that self-serious masculinity that occupies so many films today. After all, this is a movie about the imagination of two kids running rampant. The kids are great as well, perfectly showcasing the ecstasy caused by pulling off dangerous stunts and then the deep-seated fear when the ramifications come calling. In addition to Bacon, there are brief and admirable performances by both Shea Whigham and Camryn Manheim, the film hinges on its two lead actors. On the whole, ‘Cop Car‘ is a fun edge of a seat drama which manages to pack a lot in its around 90 minutes run time. The film is a really promising feature from Watts, whose next feature is the upcoming Spider-Man reboot over at Sony & Marvel. Give it a watch if you are into slow burn Indie thrillers!!