Crown Vic

Crown Vic is a confused film. Is it a paean to the hard working, misunderstood men in blue or is it a damning indictment of a job that both corrupts and destroys the people who do it. I don't think it knows and so it tries to be both and it doesn't really work. It starts off motor pool cliched, takes a pretty interesting turn down minutiae avenue, swerves onto exposition boulevard before crashing into predictability square.

It's Officer Nick Holland's (Luke Kleintank) first night on patrol as an LAPD cop. He's the new guy, the boot, and as such he's paired with an experienced partner. Officer Ray Mandel (Thomas Jane) has been on the job for 25 years. He drives the Crown Vic and he's seen it all, nothing phases him, he's cool, calm and collected. Nick and Ray are chalk and cheese and unfortunately for them their first night together has coincided with a bank robbery carried out by a pair of cop killers with nothing to lose.

Look at that plot description. It's every cop film trope and cliche in the book thrown together and you might think in 2020 you might be in for something fresh, a new perspective on an old story. You'd be wrong. It's first couple of minutes are high octane viewing, a car chase and shootout where no prisoners are taken. It's breathless stuff and then everything slows right down. We meet our leads, their relationship is exactly how you'd expect, exactly. It's groanworthy, we've seen this a 1000 times before. But then we get to spend some time with them doing the things you don't usually see on film, the gruntwork, the shitty jobs, the drunks, the unhinged. It's a solid, workmanlike, look at a job no one would want to do. Then the usual nonsense creeps back in, the same ol' dodgy cops, burned out by the job, im so crazy, yeah motherfucker!! ding dong that's been boring us in cop movies since Martin Riggs did it back in 1987. Josh Hopkins and David Krumholtz turn up as two cops who've been on the job way too long. Krumholtz brings a slimy, shuddery venality to the table but Hopkins acts like he's aiming for the Al Pacino ham crown and it's painful to look at. And all the while that beginning is hanging over the film, waiting for it's turn to slot into the narrative again, and when it finally does.....well it's underwhelming to say the least.

Crown Vic has a lot to say and it's more than happy to share it's many, many thoughts. Society doesn't understand cops. Cops are troubled by normality. The job is a destroyer of lives, marriages and minds but at the same time it's a brilliant job, you really feel like you're doing good.It feels confused and hypocritical, and especially so when it's coming from the same person, in this case Ray Mandel. The veteran, a cop oracle. Thomas Jane brings an air of authority to the role but it's not enough, especially when his character gets saddled with subplots that go nowhere in an attempt to add shades of grey to a film already slathered in them. One action late in the film is a troubling but interesting turn that had potential to take the story off in a whole new direction but like earlier asides it just goes nowhere when the film just ends abruptly.

Crown Vic is a strange brew. A messy look at the world from a cop bubble. It's at once propaganda and indictment. Occasional flashes of interest aside it's not one to seek out.