On the run from a lethal assassin, a wily con artist devises a scheme to hide out inside a small-town police station-but when the hitman turns up at the precinct, an unsuspecting rookie cop finds herself caught in the crosshairs.
The first question I’d like to ask director Joe Carnahan is how the hell he secured the rights to use the Dirty Harry theme in the opening of his new film, “Copshop.” It fits perfectly within the confines of the scene but I was surprised to hear it, pleasantly I might add. Carnahan has made a lot of fast and furious movies throughout his career, starting with 1998’s “Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane,” moving onto “Narc,” “Ticker,” “Smokin’ Aces” (which “Copshop” most closely resembles), “The A-Team,” and “The Grey,” and although in the past few years he has continued to stay busy (he directed three episodes of “The Blacklist” and four episodes of “State of Affairs”), “Copshop” is his return to the big-screen chaotic and violent narratives he became known for.
When rookie Officer Valerie Young (Alexis Louder) tries to break up a commotion at a Nevada casino in the middle of the desert, she is punched to the ground by Teddy Murretto (Frank Grillo), a disheveled but desperate man with a bullet wound in his side, begging to be arrested. Valerie is more than happy to entertain his wishes and takes him back to her small-town police station and locks him up in a cell. After tending to his wound, she tries to talk to him about why he so badly wanted to be arrested but he refuses to say anything. Shortly thereafter, two state troopers bring a seemingly intoxicated man into the police station and he is immediately thrown into the cell across from Teddy but we quickly learn that Teddy is a con artist who crossed the wrong people and the new convict, Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler), is actually a hitman trying to kill him.
Bob causes a distraction and after one of the cops enters the cell to see what’s going on, Bob knocks him out and takes his keys and gun. Just as he is about to open Teddy’s cell door, Valerie appears and points her gun at him, demanding he drop his gun or she’ll shoot. He complies and she cuffs him to his cell and takes the injured officer upstairs. When she returns, she demands to know what’s going on between the two men. Upstairs, gunfire can be heard, and most of the officers are shot down by a gun-wielding competing assassin named Tony Lamb (Toby Huss), who is there to kill Teddy and Bob, tying up all loose ends. As Valerie exchanges gunfire with Tony, she is hit in the side but manages to return to the cellblock where Teddy and Bob’s holding cells are located as it is protected by an impenetrable, bulletproof door. While Tony tries to figure out a way in, Valerie, Teddy, and Bob must learn to trust in each other, if any of them are to make it out alive.
“Copshop” is a welcome return to Carnahan’s roots, steeped in bloodshed, carnage, intrigue, and big revelations that permeate the entire 108-minute runtime. Nobody is who they appear to be and Carnahan twists and contorts the story every chance he gets so just when we think we’ve figured it out, it completely evolves and takes off in an entirely new direction. Butler, Grillo, and Louder all excel in their respective roles and their interplay is engaging and always keeps our interest. The film moves along energetically and never eases up. We are never given enough time to consider possible outcomes or a conceivable conclusion, instead, Carnahan and co-writer Kurt McLeod weave the story like a Rubik’s Cube, allowing us to see what’s directly in front of us but never showing us what’s going on behind the scenes, keeping us and the characters guessing the whole way.
In Theaters Friday, September 17th
