Copshop
review by Bobby Blakey
Director Joe Carnahan always brings the chaotic action to his films such as Smokin’ Aces, The grey and Boss Level. His latest film Copshop starring Frank Grillo, Gerard Butler, Alexis Louder, and Toby Huss looks to be more of the same, but can it bring the action or will it fail to get out of the cell?
Copshop follows wily con artist Teddy Murretto screaming through the Nevada desert in a bullet-ridden Crown Vic, who hatches a desperate plan to hide out from lethal hitman Bob Viddick: He sucker-punches rookie officer Valerie Young to get himself arrested and locked up in a small-town police station. But jail can’t protect Murretto for long. Viddick schemes his own way into detention, biding his time in a nearby cell until he can complete his mission. When the arrival of a competing assassin ignites all-out mayhem, mounting threats force Viddick to get creative if he wants to finish the job and escape the explosive situation.
This film wastes no time getting into the action complete with an old school vintage credits opening that set a tone for things to come. Once we meet all the characters and everything is set in motion it slows down a bit for a while. While listening to the banter between the characters is a great time I was getting worried we weren’t going to get the insane action I had hoped for, but this is Carnahan and he makes sure to feed that need.
I love all things both Grillo and Butler so getting them together is always a treat. They have lots of great dialogue together with it keeping the majority of the film inside the police station ala Assault on Precinct 13. The shining spot here for me was Alexis Louder who brings a tough no nonsense quick draw cop to the forefront and knocks it out of the park. The always fun to watch Huss hams it up in a psychotic performance that is the most memorable and fun of them all.
Once we get the small talk out of the way and understand how we all got to this point it unleashes the action in a hail of bullets, fire and explosions that will no doubt entertain any hardcore action fan. Everyone gets to get in on the action with some twists and laughs all wrapped up in a fury of violence and gun fire like only Carnahan delivers.
I had a ton of fun with this film and hope it gets the love it deserves. This release doesn’t offer up any bonus content, but does have a digital copy of the film included. Grab your copy of Copshop available now on digital, Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Home Entertainment.
