Cop Land

James Mangold built Garrison out of where he grew up: Washingtonville, in a development called Worley Heights where many neighbours were serving or retired New York officers. In the film the town is in New Jersey. Freddy Heflin’s deafness is the frame, not decoration. He lost the hearing in one ear saving a woman from the Hudson as a young man, and so never became a New York officer; in the finale a gun fires beside his good ear and he finishes the shootout completely deaf. Sylvester Stallone put on about 40 pounds for the part, and it came back at the production. Variety reported in May 1997 that the film was meant to screen at Cannes but was not ready; Miramax showed journalists some footage, and reshoots included scenes with Stallone 40 pounds heavier. Mangold later said the noise around the casting made the film look bigger than it was; he had imagined an unknown in the lead so the turn into a hero would seem less Hollywood. Stallone won best actor at the Stockholm festival. A good fit if you accept a film that takes its time introducing the town’s officers before staging its finale by deafening the hero. Not for a viewer expecting physical dominance from Stallone; the part is written the other way round.