Cop Car

Cop Car_360P

source: Cop Car

Two good natured but rebellious young boys have, unbeknown to their families, ran away from home. Equipped with some beef jerky, they stroll through golden fields making their way towards a secluded glade where they find an abandoned cop car. Curious they explore the car, find the keys and take the car for a joyride. Their bad decision unleashes the wrath of the car's owner, a county sheriff, who has left something of great value in the car and is desperate to get it back. A game of cat-and-mouse ensues, and the boys quickly discover that the fun is over and they are in way over their heads....... Cop Car is one of those films that hasn't a big cast, has a wonderfully short running time, and really explores the majority of its characters, but it's more of pleasure to have experienced it type of film, rather than a cinematic feat. So it's basically Bacon trying to get the car back because there are things there that will incriminate him, but the two boys, impressionable as they are, won't initially return the car, for fear of being imprisoned. As the film progresses, the more urgent the quest becomes, the patience of Bacon becoming thinner, and revelations discovered by the two boys, that make them even more scared. It's a slow burner for sure, Bacon is as wonderful as he always is, and there are enough little twists in the film to keep it interesting. It's not going to be remembered for anything groundbreaking, but it's a neat little thriller.

"We'll just tell them we're cops." When two runaway kids find an abandoned cop car in the woods they do what any young kids do, they start to play with it. When they finally get it started they try and see how fast they can get it going. When the owner of the car (Bacon) finds it missing he begins to worry. When the kids find out the secret in the trunk they do not know what to do. This is a pretty good movie, but I think the biggest problem with it is that it takes a really good half hour idea and tries to stretch it out as long as they can. There are some pretty tense scenes in this but they seem to spend too long on trivial aspects in order to increase the running time. The movie feels real and if kids actually found something like this I'm sure more than a few would try and drive it. The acting isn't bad and the movie is watchable but the pacing was just off and made it hard to stay entirely focused on. Overall, not a bad movie, but needed something else to keep it interesting for the entire time. I give this a B-.

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

Some people forget their bags, luggage or whatever, others lose their car. Though that wouldn't make this justice. It's a what would happen if situation. It feels like the movie might have sprung out of the idea, what if two boys found a cop car and started messing around with it. The movie feels like this was the starting point and also the point where the viewer is not exactly sure what's going to happen next. Which is a good thing. You keep guessing what is up next, where the movie will be heading (pun intended). The boys are perfectly cast and they really don't seem like they're acting at all. Kevin Bacon is hard to read as always, as is the situation in general. Just when you thought you figured it out, something else happens that you didn't see coming

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

This is a very dark and often unsettling thriller, with great performances across the board, and some good tension throughout. Although it's not the most exhilarating thriller, with the first two acts taking a very long time to get going, it is still an impressive film nonetheless. Let's start with the performances. The two kids in this film are fantastic, and do a great job of making you believe in their innocence despite their taking the car, ultimately leaving them as the characters that you support because of their innocence, even though everything that happens in this film is entirely their fault. Meanwhile, Kevin Bacon is very good as the police officer. Although it may feel like he sometimes doesn't live up to the terrifying dark secret that the man is hiding, he's still pretty intense to see on screen as he manipulates his fellow officers and the boys for his own means. Now, the plot here is split into two clearly different parts. The first fifty minutes or so are about the pursuit between the kids and the cop, and they are, in truth, a little underwhelming. It's still a little tense and unsettling, but it moves far too slowly to be really thrilling, and it doesn't really capitalise on the really dark ideas brought in earlier on in the story, which was a little disappointing. However, the climax was absolutely fantastic. Throwing a spanner into the works and completely altering the structure of the plot, this finale is extremely dark, action-packed and hugely exciting all together, and it keeps moving at a great pace with huge unpredictability throughout. Finally, looking at this film from a stylistic point of view, it's not the greatest thing you've ever seen, but there is still praise to be given. Whilst it may look relatively orthodox (excluding some of the longer takes that are pretty impressive), it's the very subtle but slightly haunting score that plays throughout almost unnoticed that does play a big part in making it a more unnerving film to watch.

"Do not steal a cop car!" Sheriff Kretzer (Kevin Bacon) Cop Car is one of the best comedies of the year. You read me right, even though IMDb lists it as a "thriller." It's that , too, but for me watching two ten-year-old boys take off in a seemingly abandoned cop car, with the attendant problems of maneuvering the auto and the bad guys at the same time, has elements of Keystone Cops (humor) and No Country for Old Men or Blood Simple (scary cluelessness). Either way offers many amusements for everyone. Sheriff Kretzer, whose car the boys, Trevor (James Freedson-Jackson) and Harrison (Hays Wellford), have borrowed is not a virtuous officer, proved by his reason for parking his car in the woods to dump a body while the boys abscond with his car. Although the opening sequence of the boys ambling over fields thinking up swear words is amusing in a Huck-Finn way, the menace escalates as the Sheriff pursues with a determination embodied in his out-of-control mustache and breathless running (he lost his car, after all). As if a mean Sheriff weren't enough, another bad man (Shea Whigham) emerges to test the naiveté of the little rascals. Therein lies the ambivalence of the story: 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. Parents and non-parents alike will squirm as the boys flirt with mortality, yet all will laugh at their squeaking by some murderous adults and situations. The absurdity of the boys' luck in avoiding death is tempered by the reality of wickedness adult audiences have already experienced in growing up. However, these tykes are just learning, so they lack the protection of experience while their curiosity is even more of a danger: "What if somebody sees us?" asks one boy. We'll just tell 'em we're cops," replies the other seriously. No one could take Cop Car seriously except the parents who know well little boys' penchant for dangerous naughtiness. This film is small gem for 2015. Hooray for indie; hooray for mischievous boys; and hooray for 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.

I think it's okay for kids to be curious, but to be completely retarded to a sense of almost comical is where this film really is split. Do you believe these two are really this idiotic? Maybe. That's for you to decide. Then it becomes a grueling test of how much do you wish to believe. That kids who take a joyride with a cop car would experiment with speed and reckless weapon handling? I don't think so. I surmise they would actually understand how to use a weapon. Then it becomes really ridiculous, when Kevin Bacon, the sheriff whose car they stole enters. I'm not ruining anything by telling you, he is a terrible person. A bad cop in a small town who does bad things. So we sense a collision course about to happen. Well, that means they have to MILK every second to the obvious. It's not anticipation to have kids act dumb. They're not teenagers. This director doesn't seem to understand tone. The music is awful, and you just wish EVERYONE including the lady at the Chinese restaurant would just die. That's how dumb this movie is. Is it well produced? Absolutely. That's what fooled this think-tank to support it. It's basically a one moment skit drained to the dumbest, unearned moment possible. A waste of time.