Cops. Nobody likes them until something happens and they can’t get to you fast enough. It’s not easy, either. You spend your days wondering if the next stop you make will be the one that takes you out until you finally get so jaded that everyone you see becomes a potential perpetrator. While there are definitely police who abuse their power, most are just people looking for a good wage and pension, maybe even to make a difference in their neighborhoods, never expecting to crack under the constant stress of their daily lives. In a fantastic feature debut, writer/director Joel Souza portrays the gritty reality of police work with Crown Vic.
Ray (Thomas Jane) is a 20 year veteran of the LAPD assigned to train Nick (Luke Kleintank), a rookie fresh out of the academy, on his very first day. The ominous threat of violent bank robbers joy-killing police lingers in the background, punctuating every stop they make throughout the night. After the obligatory bit of hazing, the two officers build a bond. Right or wrong, they have each other’s back, and they have to because either one of them or both can die at a moment’s notice. Through the course of their night, they learn from each other, Nick looking up to Ray’s experience and questioning his revision of regulations while at the same time reminding the older cop of who he once was and why he signed up in the first place. Through the course of their night, they face dangers both mortal and absurd, though throughout, a personal issue keeps chasing Ray. Eventually, it overtakes him and their journey.
“The ominous threat of violent bank robbers joy-killing police lingers in the background, punctuating every stop they make…”
A truly astounding work from beginning to end, Souza has taken an old trope and played with it to make a gripping, exciting narrative that personifies its subjects rather than judging them. They make choices, and they have to live with them. Whether we agree with them or not, we at least understand their motivations and can relate somewhat because they are whole characters and not cardboard uniforms. An obvious comparison would be Training Day, but it’s not an accurate one. This is about a day in the life of the average LAPD officer and, while certain actions reek of corruption, it never quite gets to that level. Rather, it recalls the storytelling of Michael Mann’s early work, where good people can do bad things, and bad people can actually be sympathetic characters.
Looks interesting reminiscent of Training Day. I’ll have to check this out!