Cop Car Film Review, Starring Kevin Bacon

What happens when two boys find a seemingly abandoned cop car and decide to take it for a ride? A dubious sheriff, played by the always-excellent Kevin Bacon, wants his ride back. That’s what happens. “Cop Car” made its Canadian premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival, in presence of director Jon Watts (Director of “Clown”) and the international star himself, Kevin Bacon.

Travis (James Freedson-Jackson) and Harrison (Hays Wellford) are hiking across the rural, empty lands of Colorado, playfully having “run away from home”. Travis has his friend repeat some vulgar terms as they trek across the windy fields, climbing through fences and worrying about nothing. The two 10 year-olds stumble across a cop car and, after much deliberation as to how to approach the vehicle, discover that the keys are inside and decide to take it for a spin. However, someone brought that car to this isolated part of Colorado. Sheriff Kretzer (Bacon) was dumping a lifeless body in a hole, not too far from his car. Upon his return to the location where he left his patrolling automobile, it is nowhere to be found. He panics, runs to a nearby trailerpark town, steals a car, and, through some deceitful ways in regards to his police station, manages to come in contact with Travis and Harrison. Kretzer, the crooked cop that he is, has his worst fears turn into reality: the boys have uncovered what he was hiding in the trunk. The sheriff must retrieve his vehicle.

The casting of this movie is incredible. Kevin Bacon is such a sensational actor that you’ll love him as much as a protagonist as you’ll love to hate him as the antagonist (personally, I adore him as a movie’s villain). The two boys interpreting Travis and Harrison portray the typical relationship of one wannabe bad-boy and his naïve, easily-influenced sidekick. The way the boys change from excited youths driving what would only have been a dream to terrified victims could not have been genuinely portrayed by many young actors, but Freedson-Jackson and Wellford succeed in doing so.

“Cop Car” begins as a light, comedic movie of two boys trekking the open plains of Colorado. Even as they embark on their wild police car adventure, you’ll still find yourself laughing at the innocent, care-free remarks that only children would say. The second half of the movie turns much darker and tense as the boys discover the secret in the trunk and the danger resulting from it. The movie doesn’t give you much details on how or why Sheriff Kretzer has done sinister things, but the story slowly unfolds as some details, and characters, pop up. You begin to wonder if Kretzer truly is the villain, then ponder who you’re really rooting for.

The film still left some hanging details, in my opinion, as to the backstory of certain characters. I evidently won’t go into this, but it did leave me scratching my head as to why certain things happened and what caused them. As I mentioned, more and more of the story is revealed to the viewer as the movie progresses, but not every detail. Of course, one could argue that some things are open to interpretation, but I still wasn’t fully satisfied with this aspect of the motion picture.

Nonetheless, “Cop Car” is a funny, tense, and beautifully acted suspense that should be viewed at least once, deserving 4 stars out of 5.