Copshop

Actors: Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder

Rating: 8 out of 10, I wasn’t sure what to think about Copland before seeing the movie, obviously. I went to see it mainly because it starred Gerard Butler and Frank Grillo who are reliable action stars. I wasn’t prepared for a complete unknown (to me) to steal every scene she was in, including from the two main stars. Alexis Louder was the only remotely redeemable character in the entire movie. She plays a young African American sheriff’s deputy in rural Nevada. She arrests a mysterious, wounded man who punches her (Grillo) which sets off a serious assault on her isolated police department. Butler shows up as an infamous hitman sent to off Grillo before he can talk. They are soon besieged by an array of competing hitman and dirty cops. The banter, especially between Butler and Grillo, is worth the price of admission. Butler has the best lines, including, “Now that’s a psychopath”, when competing (and hilarious unhinged) hitman Toby Huss shows up. Again though, Louder more than holds her own against the heavyweights and you can’t help but rooting for her to survive against long odds. So, a real surprise and one of the better movies I’ve seen in a while.

MVP: Louder as Val, the seriously undergunned but resilient deputy