‘Cop Car’ DVD Review
Stars: Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford, Camryn Manheim, Shea Whigham, Sean Hartley, Kyra Sedgwick, Loi Nguyen, Chuck Kull, Thomas Coates | Written by Jon Watts, Christopher D. Ford | Directed by Jon Watts
What would you do if you found a Cop Car in the middle of nowhere still with the keys in it? If your answer is to stay away the hell away from it, then you have some common sense. The problem with kids on an adventure though is that common sense is never fun and rarely the answer.
When Travis (James Freedson-Jackson) and Harrison (Hays Wellford) run away from home, their adventures land them in trouble when they find a seemingly abandoned Cop Car with the keys still in the ignition. Driving off, it’s not long before Sheriff Kretzer (Kevin Bacon) returns to the same spot to find his car gone. What began as an adventure for the two boys soon turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse with them way out of their depth, especially with the strange knocking coming from the boot of the Sheriff’s car.
Cop Car starts off by disarming the audience by putting them into the world of the two children. We enjoy Travis and Harrison’s games, and we even enjoy them getting into the Cop Car and driving around in it. Things get all too real by the introduction of Bacon, and his corrupt cop character. Returning from burying a body to find that his car has gone, the audience soon realises that he is a very real danger that is about to enter the boy’s lives.
What works well with Cop Car is the fact Bacon fully realises how he must play the role, and that is to ham it up to the fullest extent. Sheriff Kretzer is an extreme version of the corrupt cop, almost to the extent of being a horror movie monster. He has little conscience, he just wants his car back and to hide the evil deeds he’s done. There are no redeemable qualities to Kretzer, and Bacon plays the part fully understanding this. He may be as charismatic as ever, but that doesn’t mean that we have to like the character he is playing.
The main power of Cop Car is the fact that we as the audience are part of the two worlds. As adults we see the danger, but we also enjoy the fantasy world the two boys are enjoying. These worlds get too close for comfort many times as the boys start to play with guns that they discover in the car, and you’ll find yourself cringing many times as they try to pull the trigger, look down the barrel to see why they are not firing, not realising the danger they are in. There is an anti-gun message hidden in these scenes that are very effective. This is even before the adults get to shooting the weapons and putting the kids in danger.
If you are looking for something a little different that delivers with ever scene, then Cop Car is well worth a watch. A trip into the adventurous world of two boys who just wanted to run away from home and have some fun, we experience just how not ready they are for the situation they find themselves in. Cop Car is an enjoyable adventure and a film well worth your time, oh and it has Kevin Bacon in it, how can it go wrong?
****½ 4.5/5
Cop Car is available on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK now.
