Cop Car

Great characters. Their back stories are hinted at and your imagination fills in the gaps.

Great writing. The dialogue has weight and sounds natural.

Great scenery. It's on the outskirts of an old dusty town, way out in the back-roads of somewhere and it looks beautiful.

Great storyline and a great score all at a nice pace and under a one and half hour running time. It has no need for flashy, gimmicky explosions or a convoluted and overly-complicated plot.

This is the best film I saw this summer.

It's a simple original story that keeps you wondering what will happen next. I don't know how a film like this can get made any more.

Kevin Bacon was pretty great too.

When two boys take an abandoned cop car for a joyride, a sheriff, played by Kevin Bacon, desperately attempts to get his car back by any means necessary. Jon Watts directed this indie thriller which is just now getting a wider release after receiving positive buzz at Sundance. Cop Car is a fun, intriguing ride that left me wishing there was more gas in this tank.

Cop Car has a simple premise that is executed very effectively. The story is interesting and raises fascinating questions early on. Once you begin connecting some of the dots, Cop Car turns into a more stereotypical thriller. However, the director Jon Watts has very unique visual style which distances Cop Car from the rest of the pack. There's beautiful cinematography and great suspense throughout the film. I'm very interested to see how Watts does with the upcoming Spider-Man movie.

James Freedson-Jackson and Hays Wellford play the two boys who steal the cop car. The two kids are fine; they aren't great, but they aren't 'Episode I Anakin Skywalker' bad. The best part about these two kids is they act exactly how 10-year-olds would act while on this joyride. They play with guns found in the car and roll each other up with police tape. Seeing the kids' innocent mindsets juxtaposed with the sheriff's dark actions make for an interesting dynamic.

Speaking of the sheriff, Kevin Bacon is great in Cop Car. Bacon and his disgusting mustache take the story in dark directions in his attempt to get his car back. His presence adds the star power that the film deserves.

While the story is dark, there are some subtle moments of comedy sprinkled here and there. The dark comedy works well in breaking up the suspense just long enough for you to catch your breath.

Cop Car ends rather abruptly, which some might find uneasy. While I can appreciate the creative decision to end where it did and not have a 'Hollywood ending,' there were just too many questions left unanswered for my taste. This is one of the few movies I wish were longer than its current 90 minute runtime.

Cop Car is a very solid edition to the thriller genre due in large part to Bacon's performance, and Watts' direction. While slightly too ambiguous, there is enough suspense and intrigue to warrant a ride for yourself.

If you liked this review, check out more of my reviews over at www.watsonmoviereviews.com

I really wasn't sure what kind of movie this was going to be, it had a very lighthearted vibe for a while to a point where I was thinking it was going to be a very clean and tidy movie. Then came in darker elements to create what I felt was a more "full" movie.

The acting wasn't terrible. Most of the roles didn't call for great acting and the child actors were as good as you can get these days. And yeah the kids can be pretty damn stupid but that's how kids are. I have kids of my own and I felt the script for the kids was spot on. Kids have wonky ass concerns and realizations. They learn things differently and accidentally. They get dumb ideas and fail to execute good ideas. That is how children roll.

The movie kept me guessing as to where it was going to end up because when kids are so heavily involved in movies writers and directors have a tendency to weaken the movie. This movie told an adult story through children and that's not easy to do so props.

7/10

@JarlJarlBinks

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.

For example, the Bourne films went into real time when the main character was on screen, but otherwise maintained a traditional narrative. Examples of standout real-time films would include Tom Cruise (amazing) in COLLATERAL; Dennis Weaver in DUEL; and the Canadian sci-fi epic, CUBE.

So now that you know first-rate films CAN potentially be made using the technique, the writer/director of this film (to be kind) did not set his sights quite that high.

Overall, it is not a bad film, it is incredibly engaging given how little is actually going on. However, while all films require a suspension of disbelief, the overall problem with COP CAR is that the two lead characters, boys of about ten years of age, are written as the dumbest children ever to appear in a feature film.

Seriously. In an age where even the Disney channel attributes 'tude, street cred, smarts and fast moves to 7 year olds (ask your child if you don't believe me) these two characters as written are so far removed from coherent thought that the audience starts to wonder if they escaped from "special class." To use the term "pig stupid" for these kids effectively slanders the pig.

Bacon is excellent. Would like to see more of him in features.

A pair of ten-year-olds (James Freedson-Jackson , Hays Wellford) find an abandoned cop car in a field. When they take it for a joyride, it seems like they could murder themselves at any moment. But things only get worse when the small town sheriff (Kevin Bacon) goes looking for his missing car. To further complicate matters, a woman (Camryn Manheim) driving across the road sees the two children driving the police car. The kids find themselves in the center of a deadly game of cat and mouse they don't understand and the only way out is to go as fast as their cop car can take them. Their first drive could be their last ! . The ride is just getting started !.

This is a small thriller with surprises , intrigue , suspense and solid interpretations . Here the main entertainment is to see these two innocent children : James Freedson-Jackson , Hays Wellford playing , amusing , and make mischief, frolics and have fun themselves . While the adults actors are pretty good , such as Kevin Bacon, Camryn Manheim , Shea Whigham and Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon's wife, is the voice-in-off of the dispatcher. With special mention for Kevin Bacon who steals the show as the small-town sheriff sets out to find the two kids who have taken his car on a joy ride . It's a treat to watch Kevin Bacon giving overacting and angry faces while pursues and harasses his two little victims . As the playful children and the cunning cop holding a long confrontation packing intrigue , shocks , outdoors scenario , suspense , emerging twists and turns at the worst possible time.

Financed in short budget by Andrew and Walter Kortschak , Michaela McKee, Dianne McGunigle , Bill Perry and by director Jon Watts himself and actor Kevin Bacon himself. This better than expected motion picture was competently written, produced and directed by Jon Watts. This craftsman Jon Watts is an expert American director and screenwriter. This fine filmmaker started directing shorts, TV films, series , and getting hits as "The Clown", "Cop Car" and the box office successes : "Spiderman Homecoming" starring Tom Holland and Zendaya and "Spiderman Far from Home" . He directed Cop Car and Clown before he was picked by Marvel and Sony to direct Spider-Man: Homecoming . It's success resulted in two sequels, Far from Home in 2019 and No Way Home in 2021. He was also picked by Marvel to direct a Fantastic Four reboot film following the failure of Josh Trank's 4 Fantastic, but dropped the directing role . Rating : 6.5/10, decent thriller movie .