Copshop Review

From the mind of Joe Carnahan, Copshop is a genre throwback. It was a tight action-thriller set mostly in a police station.

Teddy Murretto (Frank Grillo) is a criminal on the run and seeks safety by being arrested. He sucker punches Valerie Young (Alexis Louder), a rookie cop with the Gun Creek Police Department. However, Teddy’s safety is short-lived when a hitman, Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler) gets himself arrested and placed in the cell opposite. Valerie accidentally draws Nevada’s crime underworld to the police stations because she asks too many questions, leading to blood and carnage.

Joe Carnahan is a director who has had an interesting career. He has been attached to numerous projects which have for one or another fell apart. Carnahan had left Mission: Impossible III, Death Wish, and Bad Boys for Life because of creative differences. He has become known as a director who likes his independence and some of his films have a devoted audience, like The Grey. Copshop was Carnahan’s barmiest film since Smokin’ Aces.

Carnahan set the tone and style early on. The first shot in the film was showing Valerie playing with her six-shooter in the desert and the design for the title looked like it would suit a ‘70s B-Movie. Carnahan was mixing the tone of a Spaghetti Western and ‘70s grindhouse flick.

Western and grindhouse motifs were running through Copshop. An early scene in the film was Valerie and one of her colleagues doing a fast draw against each other. The premise of Copshop was a mix of Assault on Precinct 13 and Carnahan’s own Smokin’ Aces. Assault on Precinct 13 was a John Carpenter classic that focused on an undermanned police station being besieged during the middle of the night, whilst the plot of Smokin’ Aces was various assassins were trying to claim a million-dollar bounty.

Copshop was a film that was trying to be cool and stylish. It felt like it was made by a first-time filmmaker. It had a tight location and small cast, issues that first-time filmmakers usually have to deal with. It has the tropes of the early works of Quentin Tarantino which had lots of violence, dark humour, witty dialogue, and quirky characters.

Copshop had a memorable cast of characters. Frank Grillo and Gerard Butler were the biggest stars in the film. Grillo usually plays action heroes and villains, military types, and physical roles and he was playing against type in Copshop. Grillo was playing a duplicitous character who avoided conflict and Butler’s Viddick stated he was a coward and he shouldn’t trust him.

Butler had an awful American accent, but he was oddly likeable in his role. He was a murderer who had no problem beating up a drunk guy and a cop, but he was charming and cool as a cucumber even when things go bad for him. Toby Huss as Anthony Lamb is set to be the memorial character in the film. He played an assassin who enjoyed his job a bit too much. Anthony’s introduction in the film was him entering the police station with a bunch of balloons and showing off his particular set of skills. Anthony was the most Tarantino-esque character in the film because he constantly making jokes and comments as he was partaking in extreme violence.

The big highlight in the cast was Alexis Louder. Louder is best known for her role in HBO’s Watchmen, but Copshop was my first experience with her. Valerie was a rookie cop, but she was resourceful and able to take charge. Louder already has a commanding presence and hopefully audiences will get to see more of her.

On the action front, Copshop was solid on that front. Carnahan is competent on this front and he did produce some fun shootouts. There was a level of tension during these scenes. One of the best action moments was when Anthony was shooting a machine gun at Valerie as she waits for a secure door to open. Carnahan was able to set out the geography of police stations and foreshadow certain things for later in the film.

For a Tarantino imitation Copshop was a better one and even if it doesn’t get an audience at the cinema, it will properly do well upon its home release. It was an action-thriller that made the best use of its limited resources.