In Cop Land Sylvester Stallone gives his best performance since Rocky as Freddy Heflin, the laid-back sheriff of Garrison, New Jersey, a suburban community across the Hudson from Manhattan where many New York Police Department cops and their families live. He seems to move in a haze of regret, listening to mournful songs by Bruce Springsteen. Deaf in one ear as a result of a rescue of a girl from a car crash when he was a teenager, he wasn't allowed to join the NYPD. Now he defers to the officers from the Big Apple and, although he knows they are involved in corruption, he looks the other way.
Then Moe Tilden (Robert DeNiro), an internal affairs investigator, arrives in town and spells out the breadth and depth of crimes committed by senior cop Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel) and his cronies who are beholden to the mob. Having set up a haven in Garrison to protect themselves from the mayhem of Manhattan, these wheeler-dealers now face exposure from three rebels within their own ranks (Ray Liotta, Peter Berg, Michael Rapaport).
Writer and director James Mangold (Heavy) has fashioned a gripping morality tale about the lonely and arduous journey of those who follow their conscience and make a stand against individuals who hold life and right in low regard. After being shamed again and again by corrupt Garrison cops, Freddy wakes up; the decibel level of his conscience goes from a peep to a loud roar. And when he finally acts, he acts boldly.