For
decades, Ford Motors has been the unchallenged dominant manufacturer of police cars.
The Crown Victoria Police Interceptor was the primary reason why. They had a
powerful V8, easy handling, and were cheap to repair. It is easy to figure why
taxi owners liked to buy the decommissioned cruisers. The LAPD is now phasing
out the classic four-door, probably replacing them with hybrids constructed
with recycled plastic and good intentions. Officer Ray Mandel is old school
when it comes to cars and everything else. His trainee will also appreciate
having the Interceptor’s crash-resistant body out in front of them during his
long, dark first night on the job in Joel Souza’s Crown Vic, which premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.
Mandel
will not haze Nick Holland per se, but he definitely gives him plenty of snark
and bark. Rather remarkably, Holland has never seen any action, even though he
transferred from Oakland. He is about to get what he asked for, in full force.
The night starts with some comically ugly cases, but it will get progressively
darker. Mandel might be flexible when it comes to details, but he isn’t
crooked. The same cannot be said with confidence of Jack VanZandt, a
steroid-raging undercover cop who will be riding in Mandel’s zone this fateful
night.
Yes,
of course you are thinking Training Day
for obvious reasons. However, Mandel will go maverick in very different ways
than Denzel Washington did. In fact, we are largely willing to follow him,
because of all the escalating hassles and mayhem Souza puts them through. Of
course, it defies logic that the two cops could be involved in so many
incidents, several of which involving shots fired, without bothering with any
reports whatsoever. However, Souza’s narrative is intended as a microcosmic
depiction of every that can possibly go wrong in a cop’s night, so go with it.
Thomas
Jane has done some interesting work lately in films like 1922 and Before I Wake,
but this is still a showcase for him that will surprise people. Somehow, he
manages to be simultaneously ferocious and subtle as the hardboiled Mandel.
Jane sets off so many fireworks, he largely overshadows Luke Kleintank as
freaked out Holland, but he makes the most of it when his rookie character
snaps. Josh Hopkins is a spectacular mess as VanZandt, starting out completely
off the rails and constantly careening further out of control, while David
Krumholtz is quite a creepy little weasel as his bad news partner.
