Cop Car (Blu-ray + UltraViolet)

Blu-Ray Reviews | Oct 3rd, 2015

Cop Car Blu-Ray Review

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Hays Wellford, James Freedson-Jackson, Shea Whigham, Camryn Manheim
Written By: Jon Watts, Christopher Ford
Directed By: Jon Watts
Studio: Universal Studios
Buy On Amazon.com

Cop Car is a bare bones, indie thriller that is a simple movie with a simple premise. That’s why it works and why people should see it!

The movie’s plot is pretty basic. Two ten year-olds wander out in a field and find an abandoned cop car. They find the keys and go for a joy ride in it, pretty much almost killing themselves with the car. What they don’t know is a crooked small-town Sheriff was out burying a body and goes out looking for his missing car. Things get worse and worse from there on.

I didn’t know much about Cop Car until I saw a trailer for it. After that, I was intrigued and the movie holds up. It was beautifully shot, had barely anyone in it besides maybe 5 actors and Kevin Bacon plays a creep very well. Let’s hope my newborn baby doesn’t grow up to be like these kids in the movie because man, they were doing some stupid things. Not only wandering off in the field and going through an abandoned cop car AND driving it, but playing with all the guns in the car too. I’m sure parents and even non-parents will get upset stomach looking at these kids playing with guns and looking inside the barrel of the guns. With all the shit going on in the US with guns, that scene particularly was a little crazy to see.

The film felt like an indie movie in the way it was shot. The wide camera angles and holding the shot for a long time. The movie is slow but builds up to an intense and dramatic last 45 minutes. I wasn’t really happy with the way the film ended though. They leave things up to your interpretation but I just wish we knew the outcome of what happened. That’s about the only negative I had with the film.

The kids in the movie were good, funny at times and you’re certainly rooting for them throughout the movie. The movie sort of had a Stand By Me feel to it but people probably don’t even remember the other movie I’m going to talk about. The movie is called Big Shots (Watch the trailer haha) from 1987 starring Ricky Buster and Darius McCrary. Two kids find a car and it’s got a dead body in the trunk. Sounds very similar no? But Cop Car’s mcguffin is the cop car, not some hitman’s car so it’s different I suppose. Still funny to think about that movie since I used to watch it back in the day.

Anyway, Cop Car has a slow buildup but satisfying finale even though the movie sort of ends on a cliffhanger. If you want extras on a Blu-Ray though, there’s a 2 minute behind the scenes clip that’s pretty much a waste. I’ve seen YouTube behind the scenes clips longer than this. A few other featurettes would have been nice.

Features
Their First and Last Ride: The Making of “Cop Car”

Video
Widescreen 2.40:1 Color

Audio
English DTS-HD MA 5.1

Bottom Line: Entertaining and simple thriller
Running Time: 88 mins
Rating: R
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:

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