Directed with lean efficiency and a mean streak a mile wide by Jon Watts. Cop Car is an extra-tight B-movie made all the more potent because of its exacting sense of logic. The final moments do stretch credibility, but, within its own realm, and considering all that has come before it, I bought into it from moment one.
This is a delightfully wicked little film, evoking Eric Red’s cult classic Cohen and Tate in more than one spot. Featuring two youthful performances from James Freedson-Jackson and Hays Wellford. Both of whom hit all the right notes of innocence, foolhardiness, and unearned confidence.
Cop Car Review
The narrative hinges on the idea that the two boys have run away from home one summer’s day. While they trek through the open plains of New Mexico, they come across a seemingly abandoned cop car in the middle of a field, which they proceed to take out for a joyride.
The naïve youngsters then get a rude awakening when a psychotic sheriff (Kevin Bacon) informs them that he’d like his car back, and to not look in the trunk.
I’m not saying anything more. Because what this film does for 90 minutes is to turn the screws fast and hard. It’s never allowing you to think too hard about what’s been occurring. You can’t help but admire the bracing sense of forward momentum combined with a general air of unpredictability.
Produced, co-written (with Christopher Ford), and directed with low-budget panache by Watts, the film comes across as a darkly comedic yet starkly violent thriller in the vein of an early Coen brothers effort. Cop Car certainly enjoys sadism with a side order of ironic humor.
Overall
There are some bits with the kids handling loaded weapons that are flinch-inducing. The sense of terror that overcomes the two protagonists in the final act is nearly unrelenting.
This is a refreshingly unpretentious, casually stylish and totally transgressive little thriller. Cop Car should delight fans of this genre to no end.
Cop Car Review by Nick Clement
Summary
This is a refreshingly unpretentious, casually stylish and totally transgressive little thriller that should delight fans of this genre to no end.
