FilmSnobReviews

Title: Cop Car
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Jon Watts
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Shea Whigham, Camryn Manheim
Runtime: 1 hr 26 mins

What It Is: When young boys Travis (James Freedson-Jackson) and Harrison (Hays Welford) run away from home they stumble upon what they assume is an abandoned police car in the middle of nowhere. They’re wrong. This car actually belong the Sheriff Kretzer (Bacon) whose left there to perform some shady act of corruption. When the boys decide the take off in the car they might be in for more than they bargained for. What sort of nogoodness is this sheriff up to? Why was he burying a body in the desert.

What We Think: This movie moves along very briskly and that might be a testament to the pace Watts set to his own script. The two young men in the leads here are good without falling into the annoying little kid situation that can often plague a movie with child stars in it. Bacon does good work here as the sheriff whose intentions we’re never quite sure of. One very good addition to this cast was the always reliable Shea Whigham. Not only does he shine, but he does so in a very limited role. This guy is always good, from stuff like American Hustle and Marvel’s Agent Carter to his lesser known performance in Wristcutters: A Love Story dude is always solid.

Our Grade: B-, This film has excited as to what Watts will do with Spider-man. He told a great story with limited resources, hopefully with a bigger budget comes a tighter told and better wound up narrative, but this is certainly a promising start. Rare sighting in this one as former star of The Practice Camryn Manheim shows up here as a nosy woman who inserts herself in to the wrong situation at the wrong time. I’m going to recommend you ceck this little film out as it was certainly worth the price of admission.