COP. Golden Oldie.

I have found very few people who have actually seen this movie. From what I understand, the flick had a very short theatrical life in 1987 and even struggled to find much of an audience once on video. That's a shame because it features a fantastic performance by James Woods as a dogged, morally corrupt LA police detective chasing down a particularly nasty serial killer; one whose MO can be traced back to thirty or so murders.

I don't know that the movie itself is even that great; it actually makes you feel a little dirty following around such a morally bankrupt "protagonist," but James Woods is so goddamn magnetic. He's wound-up like '80s stockbroker, only more self-absorbed and coked out of his mind.

Let's stop for a moment to consider James Woods. Here is a guy whose performances vary only slightly from one to the next, and it shows, but it doesn't matter because he invests every single character he plays with an infectious manic energy. This guy should be first in line for every major villain role available. He's that good. He projects intelligence by talking circles around anybody he shares a scene with - talking so fast, with such intensity, that you're sort of worried he might explode. For prime examples of James Woods' talent, check out SALVADOR, GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HARD WAY (really great here), AGAINST ALL ODDS, THE SPECIALIST (watch him walk off with this godawful movie like he doesn't know its fucking bad).

In COP, he is more than combustible and you sit back awaiting his demise at his own hands, but it doesn't really come. He tracks this killer with such ferocity that it becomes his singular vision to hunt this villain down. He's like an animal looking for that morsel of food which might stave off starvation, but its not desperation, its a maniacal drive. You realize that in hunting all of these criminals and investigating these terrible acts, his psyche has really been altered. This is not scenery chewing and you don't really root for him like you might a Dirty Harry, no, you worry about this guy and the people around him because you'd hate to see others go down with his ship.

There are two scenes that define this movie: One involves Woods, home late one night, divorced from his family, but tucking his young daughter into bed. She asks him to tell her a story and Woods tells her of a brutal case that he's been working on, much to the chagrin of his ex-wife. At first, its a funny scene, but then you realize that this guy wouldn't know a fairy-tale if he were in it and this might be the only story he knows.

The second scene, and it is the film's last, might contain the greatest closing line in the history of film and I'm not exaggerating. Seriously, I am not just getting pumped up in writing this or anything like that - it's really an amazing line and a shocking ending. It perfectly sums up the character and once you get past the badassness of it and consider its implications, you realize just how sick our "protagonist" might be, a sort of depression sets in because you know that you've spent two hours following around a sociopath.

But that line, woooo, it's a piece of work and Woods, well, Woods will have a spot on the Under appreciated List that I'm working on as we speak.