Movie Review: Cop Car (2015)

Synopsis: A corrupt small town sheriff is disposing of a body when two runaway boys decide to take his squad car for a joy ride. Realizing the trouble that could cause him, he does everything he can to get the car back before anyone finds out it has been stolen.

Who's in it? The movie stars Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford, Shea Whigham and Camryn Manheim.


Review: I decided to scroll through Netflix movies while my wife was taking a shower yesterday evening and, after looking at a few, decided on this one because she is a big Kevin Bacon fan. Unfortunately, the film just did not live up to expectations.

When we started watching this movie, I expected it to be a thriller (like it was advertised). After watching it, I would probably classify it more as a dark comedy. There really wasn't anything about this movie I would consider even remotely intense. In fact, I think the only thing that made me cringe at all was all the swear words coming out of the two boys' mouths (they really needed to have their mouths washed out with soap).

There were two things, in particular, that didn't seem to help this movie. The first was the fact the two boys (Freedson-Jackson and Wellford) weren't exactly all that bright. And, when I say that, I mean the movie took their stupidity to new levels. This included an attempt to test out the sheriff's (Bacon) bulletproof vest by trying to shoot each other (but, fortunately, also weren't smart enough to figure out how to actually fire the weapons).

The other thing I found I didn't like about this movie was the way it seemed to draw out unimportant scenes. For example, there is a scene where the sheriff is trying to steal a car and the movie forces you to watch him try to lasso the lock with a shoestring for about 4 minutes. Later in the movie, the man the sheriff has hidden in the trunk (Whigham) has an eternity to set up an ambush for the sheriff, including having time to shoot a bottle, make multiple trips back and forth to the car and stare at the windmill he was hiding behind. It was as though the filmmakers realized this film was going to be too short and decided to add a lot of filler.

I also wasn't crazy about the ending, which, like too many movies, left a lot to the imagination and gave zero closure. It ends without telling us what ultimately happened to the sheriff,  if the kids were going to be OK or if they got in trouble for stealing the car in the first place. Of course, to be fair, even the best ending in the world probably couldn't have saved this film.

Final Opinion: I'll give it a couple points for originality. But, this is a very disappointing movie that doesn't even come close to living up to its "thriller" label. Save yourself the time and don't watch it.

My Grade: D

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