Copshop
★★★★
A stranger in a stolen police car (played by Frank Grillo) deliberately gets himself arrested and locked up in a small town precinct. Unbeknownst to the police officers there, the man is being pursued by a ruthless assassin (Gerard Butler) who is determined to use any means necessary in order to get to his target. Standing in his way is Officer Valerie Young (Alexis Louder), who is trying to figure out what is going on as the body count piles.
If you’re looking for a decent and small little crime thriller set in a single location, you can’t go wrong with this one. Because there are no big explosions and set pieces, the film focuses more on the characters, and it’s very interesting to see how things play out among these assorted bunch of characters, and in ways you sometimes never expected. I like these kinds of crime stories where the right decisions aren’t always the best. It’s very much reminiscent of those crime films I often see from Hong Kong during its filmmaking heydays.
I was surprised to learn that Joe Carnahan was the director, the guy who did the perennial favourite The Grey and other fun ones like Smokin’ Aces and The A-Team remake. Grillo and Butler are fantastic in their roles - this isn’t one of those “slumming it for the paycheck” situations. Louder is the “new face” and held her own against these veterans, but she has actually been working for a while, with bit roles in Black Panther and the Watchmen series, and more recently alongside Chris Pratt in The Tomorrow War and The Terminal List. There’s a fun, showy, psychotic role by Toby Huss, whom I’ve never seen in anything else before, but he was the scenery chewer in this one.
My only complaint is that the budget of the film is really showing the seams at times. The precinct is obviously a set. Though very nicely decorated, but there’s something about the way it was lighted that gave it away a bit. Colour grading can be a bit of a cliche look nowadays, but this movie could have used a bit of that.
Nevertheless, it is still a very enjoyable gritty thriller with surprisingly good performances and a story that tries to be less predictable than a lot of other stuff out there.
Originally published on my Facebook page, here.