Director: Joe Carnahan
Notable Cast: Alexis Louder, Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo,
Toby Huss, Ryan O’Nan
Joe Carnahan has had a prolific career in stylish action
flicks. Whether it was his debut film Smokin’ Aces or his other film in
2021 Boss Level, Carnahan is a fairly safe bet when it comes to
entertaining action films loaded with interesting choices. His latest, Copshop,
follows very closely in those steps and maybe, just maybe, perfects it. Built
on the foundations of using 1970s cop thrillers as its basis, but also as some
stylistic choices, Copshop is a romp and a half. It’s littered with
broad stroke characters painted with bullets and quick banter, a slow-burn
build to set the chessboard, and some fantastic performances. It’s a smartly
written mid-tier action thriller with some scene devouring casting that ought
to curb the craving for most genre fans. Copshop, like so many of
Carnahan’s films, is already a cult classic.
The influences that Carnahan and company are pulling from
are immediately evident in Copshop. The title sequence, complete with
70s style font and music pulled from Magnum Force, sets the tone as does
the banter happening between two of the police officers that will represent a
chunk of the strangely deep ensemble cast. The style is initially almost
overwhelming, through the edits, the manner that night sequences are shot, and
even in the relentlessly quick dialogue, but like all of the director’s films,
it becomes part of the world.
If anything, the style is so interwoven with the substance
of its narrative and characters that the ebb and flow of when it arrives is
hardly jarring as it might seem on the surface level. The entire ensemble, led
by the trifecta of Butler, Grillo, and Louder, is absolutely game to embrace
the heightened sense of reality and mixture of 70s and 10s style. Butler and
Grillo naturally come in swinging with their usual screen saunters with just
enough layers to create a duality of “charming assholes we love to hate” but
it’s Louder that completely dominates this film as a badass, but lovable
protagonist, Val. If Hollywood doesn’t give her all of the roles going forward
then I’m rioting. However, the entire cast is out to make a mark with the story
and direction benefiting from their ability to show up and absolutely make a
scene.
The script gives the cast plenty of material to work with
though. The writing, as with many of Carnahan’s films, is lightning-paced,
filled with quotable material, and brimming with personality. The insanity that
comes out of Huss’ character Lamb is both hilarious and completely unhinged in
a slightly disturbing way while the banter between the three leads throughout
the film digs into the power dynamics at play with its “what is being said in
between the quips.”
This powers the relatively meticulous pacing of the first
two-thirds as Copshop distinctly sets up its players on the chessboard
of its limited police station setting. The ability of the script and tone to
shift between thriller tension, deep black humor, and the occasional slapstick
moment is pitch-perfect. This all culminates in a riveting third act that
unleashes all of its players who begin to trade in their quips for bullets. The
action is crisp and well shot, only now and again showing the fringes of its
budget. It’s not the wildest roller coaster ride from the onset, but the manner
that the film is set up for the payoffs is deliciously fun and highly
entertaining.
As with so many mid-range action films, audiences have been
hesitant to jump into this one - as noted by its middling box office and poor
marketing from Open Road Pictures, but don’t sit on an empty chamber with this
one. Load up, take aim, and pull the trigger on the sheer enjoyment that Copshop
represents as a 70s action thriller through the lens of a post-modern
director.
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