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Cop Land & Heavy
These two screenplays by James Mangold are the bases of two stylistically different films that both demonstrate his powerful sense of character and place. CopLand, which stars Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro, has as its protagonist a small-town New Jersey cop (Stallone) who has for years looked the other way when fellow officers have run roughshod over law and order-and who now is unwilling to do so one more time. Heavy stars Liv Tyler in her debut role as a young waitress who becomes the obsession of the overweight, lonely young man who owns the rural bar where she works. Both films are imbued with sympathy for their deeply flawed characters and rooted in a strong feeling for the reality of life in small-town America. 20 Black-and-White Photographs
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1999
About the author
James Mangold
9 books2 followersJames Mangold is an acclaimed American film director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his versatility across genres. He made his directorial debut with Heavy in 1995 and quickly gained recognition with Cop Land (1997) and Girl, Interrupted (1999). His work often blends strong character development with rich storytelling, as seen in later films like Identity (2003), the Oscar-winning Walk the Line (2005), and the Western 3:10 to Yuma (2007).
Born in New York City, Mangold grew up in Washingtonville, New York, and is the son of artists Robert Mangold and Sylvia Plimack Mangold. He studied at the California Institute of the Arts, where he was mentored by Alexander Mackendrick, and later earned his MFA in film at Columbia University under Miloš Forman’s guidance. Early in his career, he worked at Disney, co-writing Oliver & Company.
Mangold’s success continued with Walk the Line, which earned five Academy Award nominations, including a Best Actress win for Reese Witherspoon. He later directed The Wolverine (2013) and Logan (2017), both starring Hugh Jackman. Logan became a landmark in the superhero genre, praised for its emotional depth and realism, and earned Mangold his first Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
In 2019, Mangold directed Ford v Ferrari, starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon. The film was a critical and commercial success, earning four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Mangold’s ability to combine dynamic storytelling with human drama was widely recognized.
In 2023, he directed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, taking over from Steven Spielberg for the franchise’s final chapter. He also directed and co-wrote A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet. The film earned Mangold his first nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director at the Academy Awards.
Looking ahead, Mangold is set to direct a Swamp Thing film for the newly rebooted DC Universe and a Star Wars film exploring the origins of The Force. He has expressed a preference for storytelling grounded in emotional truth, steering away from multiverse narratives and franchise overexpansion, which he believes can dilute storytelling's emotional core.
Mangold's directing style focuses on finding a personal and emotional center in each project, whether adapting a real-life story or a popular franchise. He believes that changing genres keeps his work fresh and allows lessons learned in one style to influence another. His films often feature strong, nuanced characters navigating complex worlds, blending genre conventions with a deeper, emotional resonance.
Throughout his career, Mangold has demonstrated a remarkable ability to move between independent films, large-scale franchises, and biopics without losing his distinctive voice. His ongoing projects and past achievements cement his place as one of the most dynamic and respected filmmakers of his generation.
Born in New York City, Mangold grew up in Washingtonville, New York, and is the son of artists Robert Mangold and Sylvia Plimack Mangold. He studied at the California Institute of the Arts, where he was mentored by Alexander Mackendrick, and later earned his MFA in film at Columbia University under Miloš Forman’s guidance. Early in his career, he worked at Disney, co-writing Oliver & Company.
Mangold’s success continued with Walk the Line, which earned five Academy Award nominations, including a Best Actress win for Reese Witherspoon. He later directed The Wolverine (2013) and Logan (2017), both starring Hugh Jackman. Logan became a landmark in the superhero genre, praised for its emotional depth and realism, and earned Mangold his first Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
In 2019, Mangold directed Ford v Ferrari, starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon. The film was a critical and commercial success, earning four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Mangold’s ability to combine dynamic storytelling with human drama was widely recognized.
In 2023, he directed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, taking over from Steven Spielberg for the franchise’s final chapter. He also directed and co-wrote A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet. The film earned Mangold his first nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director at the Academy Awards.
Looking ahead, Mangold is set to direct a Swamp Thing film for the newly rebooted DC Universe and a Star Wars film exploring the origins of The Force. He has expressed a preference for storytelling grounded in emotional truth, steering away from multiverse narratives and franchise overexpansion, which he believes can dilute storytelling's emotional core.
Mangold's directing style focuses on finding a personal and emotional center in each project, whether adapting a real-life story or a popular franchise. He believes that changing genres keeps his work fresh and allows lessons learned in one style to influence another. His films often feature strong, nuanced characters navigating complex worlds, blending genre conventions with a deeper, emotional resonance.
Throughout his career, Mangold has demonstrated a remarkable ability to move between independent films, large-scale franchises, and biopics without losing his distinctive voice. His ongoing projects and past achievements cement his place as one of the most dynamic and respected filmmakers of his generation.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
May 8, 2026
Cop Land written and directed by James Mangold is not one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, yet it is good enough, notwithstanding the presence of Silver Stallone in a leading role, indeed, it is the only performance of his that I agree with – you have thousands of notes on films from The NYT 1,000 and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
8 out of 10
Harvey Keitel has a prominent role in Cop Land, he is one of my favorite thespians, let us just mention Reservoir Dogs https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... in which he not only acts, but he was crucial in making the movie the way it is, he helped finance it, and this is why we have it in color
Now, let me just say that I liked Cop Land, last night it was aired on one of the film channels, and saw most of it again, having mentioned this, a spoiler alert will be needed, not because I put here the (happy) end, but because I will digress, and furthermore, might (or definitely) upset someone who ventures here, especially MAGA
I have had a comment on one of my reviews of George Orwell’s magnum opera https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... one of the essays, and it was something like ‘I was intrigued, until you mentioned 45/47’ and I went back to read my lines, to find it
What 45/47 I was wondering, until I saw it, this man shows respect, maybe reverence, for one that is just the Orange Woland in my book, as in the Devil, and we could argue that the comment made sense, that was polite, comme il faut, while my contempt, disgust are inappropriate, and even worse, obsessive, I keep coming back to this
Woland is one of the (awful) characters in The Master and Margarita https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... I mean, this is Beelzebub, but we have some enchanting figures, opposing this ruler of hell, ergo Orange Woland, as Dracul coming from hell
The connection – there is none, but let me be tolerant with myself – with Cop Land is made by Stallone, who is good (only) in this motion picture, otherwise, I do not even see him as a thespian (which shows how pretentious I am) even if he had a ten million dollar fee decades back, while the likes of Jack Nicholson could only get four million
Sheriff Freddy Heflin is quite lame, helpless for such a long time, only to erupt in the last part of the narrative, in my mind, I see Stallone as close to this character, and it suits him better than the dominating personages he generally portrayed, Rocky I, II, and what, X, Rambo, etc., however, there is another aspect that irritates me
In Hollywood, I think one in one thousand belong to MAGA, of the celebrated figures, there are only a handful that support Orange Woland, Stallone, Gibson and Voigt are the well-known, and Stallone went over the top, saying something like this leader is above Lincoln, or some such shit https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
8 out of 10
Harvey Keitel has a prominent role in Cop Land, he is one of my favorite thespians, let us just mention Reservoir Dogs https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... in which he not only acts, but he was crucial in making the movie the way it is, he helped finance it, and this is why we have it in color
Now, let me just say that I liked Cop Land, last night it was aired on one of the film channels, and saw most of it again, having mentioned this, a spoiler alert will be needed, not because I put here the (happy) end, but because I will digress, and furthermore, might (or definitely) upset someone who ventures here, especially MAGA
I have had a comment on one of my reviews of George Orwell’s magnum opera https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... one of the essays, and it was something like ‘I was intrigued, until you mentioned 45/47’ and I went back to read my lines, to find it
What 45/47 I was wondering, until I saw it, this man shows respect, maybe reverence, for one that is just the Orange Woland in my book, as in the Devil, and we could argue that the comment made sense, that was polite, comme il faut, while my contempt, disgust are inappropriate, and even worse, obsessive, I keep coming back to this
Woland is one of the (awful) characters in The Master and Margarita https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... I mean, this is Beelzebub, but we have some enchanting figures, opposing this ruler of hell, ergo Orange Woland, as Dracul coming from hell
The connection – there is none, but let me be tolerant with myself – with Cop Land is made by Stallone, who is good (only) in this motion picture, otherwise, I do not even see him as a thespian (which shows how pretentious I am) even if he had a ten million dollar fee decades back, while the likes of Jack Nicholson could only get four million
Sheriff Freddy Heflin is quite lame, helpless for such a long time, only to erupt in the last part of the narrative, in my mind, I see Stallone as close to this character, and it suits him better than the dominating personages he generally portrayed, Rocky I, II, and what, X, Rambo, etc., however, there is another aspect that irritates me
In Hollywood, I think one in one thousand belong to MAGA, of the celebrated figures, there are only a handful that support Orange Woland, Stallone, Gibson and Voigt are the well-known, and Stallone went over the top, saying something like this leader is above Lincoln, or some such shit https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review