Cop

Well, if you're a James Woods fan (which to me is the real reason to rent this) then you will love him in this movie. I haven't read the novel but I liked both this movie & Ellroy's L.A. Confidential. It is rare indeed to take a novel & translate it to the screen without losing something. Perhaps I'm lucky because I never read either novel before seeing the film.

One of the reasons I watch this movie over & over again is that it IS funny yet disturbingly dark at times. In one scene where Woods is trying to get laid by an uptight bisexual poetess, you can just see the boredom & apathy on his face as she drones on & on about her " knight in shining armor." This ties in with an opening scene when he's trying to convince his soon to be estranged wife that it's better NOT to delude their daughter with fairy tales that is just AWESOME writing. I cannot paraphrase it all, but he basically says that innocence kills. The idea that some man will come along to make it perfect is what kills deluded women. Which ties into the story because he ends up on a case that turns out to be a serial killer who specializes in killing innocent women.

There are some parts that are slow but over all this movie is well paced w/great actors and great acting. This movie is just as gripping as Training Day, just less well known. Either way, give it a try, you won't be disappointed if you like James Woods.

James Woods is our hardboiled detective as he navigates the dark web of a mass murderer. Woods' wife and child have recently left him, and he is under investigation at the police department. He is unwilling to give up the case, and no one is going to stop him.

"Cop" displays Film Noir disillusionment and it's bleakest and the dark ending (not going to be spoil it) only adds to the Noir-iness. In the 1980's Film Noirs started to come out again, beginning with remakes like "D.O.A.", and new originals like "To Live and Die in LA." In this revival, "Cop" is a crown jewel, a wonderfully mysterious tale of man willing to risk and loose everything to find a killer.

As a Noir enthusiast, I highly recommend this film. It may be overacted at times, and the detective may seem a little to gung ho to be believable. But, Woods'es excellent performance is able to hold the film together. It is a thriller from start to end, and overall a very enjoyable film. Watch it, trust me.

If you want to watch a cool movie, I suggest you see it. James Woods did a great job as a hard egotistical cop out to solve a serial killing. Maybe it is like other cop thrillers, but this was made a while back before a lot of others. So, if you're not a 'critic' I'd say it's nothing short of intriguing. I came away saying "it was a good movie," a couple of times.

Based on the James Ellroy novel "Blood on the Moon", James Woods is LAPD detective Lloyd Hopkins who discovers the terribly mutilated corpse of a young woman and immediately starts comparing the scene with previously unsolved murders. He becomes convinced a serial killer is at work here, preying on women for the last fifteen years. Soon, more gruesome murders occur and detective Hopkins becomes a target himself. Detective Hopkins is the kind of amoral sleazeball that makes Dirty Harry seem like a little angel in comparison. He's the kind of cop that blows your date away, leaves his partner to clear the mess and then asks the woman if she needs a ride home and have some fun.

James Woods also co-produced with director James B. Harris, long time buddy of Stanley Kubrick and producer of THE KILLING (1957), PATHS OF GLORY 1958) and LOLITA (1962), who also wrote the script for this hard-edged cop thriller. I made the mistake expecting a really good film, mostly based on Woods' presence, the writings of James Ellroy, and Kubrick sidekick James B. Harris taking the directorial helm, but Harris hardly shines in that department. His direction is adequate, but not much more. Best to watch this as a gritty cop flick, trashy, cynical and sometimes a bit silly with plenty of misguided attempts at humor on account of leading man James Woods, always a plus, in any film. It's a reasonably well-executed cop thriller, but no classic. Expect an enjoyable slice of B-movie nonsense and you probably won't be disappointed.

Camera Obscura --- 7/10

Extremely entertaining film about a cop (Woods) who tries to hunt down a criminal who is murdering women downtown in an apparently random order. I saw this on AMC one Friday night, very late, and I was blown away. Great acting, particularly by James Woods, and just a very fine film with a good fade-to-black ending.

It's sort of dumb and predictable sometimes, but it's one of the best endings I can remember in recent years.

4/5 stars.

• John Ulmer