James Woods plays a cop on the edge in a slick thriller based on James Ellroy's book Blood on the Moon. If you like 80's crime dramas, Cop is right up your alley.

A burglar calls the police to report a murder victim he found in a house he was robbing. Sergeant Hopkins (Woods) catches the case. He suspects it's connected to a series of other unsolved murders spanning fifteen years. His captain thinks he's on a wild goose chase. When he's not investigating the murders, Hopkins cheats on his wife as much as possible.

Two persons of interest in the case are a pimp (Dennis Stewart) and a state cop (Charles Haid, aka Officer Renko on Hill Street Blues). Lesley Ann Warren plays a feminist bookstore owner who knew both of them in high school. Someone's been sending her anonymous poems for the past fifteen years. Hopkins thinks they're from the killer.

Cop is chock full of 80's cop movie tropes. A hardboiled detective who plays by his own rules. His unhappy wife. A twisted serial killer. A captain who kicks the hero off the case. (I don't think he used the phrase "loose cannon," but it's strongly implied.) Crooked cops. Prostitutes and fast women. The recipe works thanks to an intelligent script and a solid cast. This is the type of role where James Woods shines. No one depicts barely contained rage quite like he does. I just wish he'd delete his Twitter account.

The plot isn't as byzantine as some of Ellroy's other stuff, but it has enough moving parts to stay interesting. I can usually rely on Ellroy to knit a good yarn, the occasional misfire notwithstanding. LA Confidential is one of my all-time favorites, both book and movie-wise. Cop doesn't hit that level, but it stands well on its own merits.

7 out of 10.

Seen on Amazon Prime.