✯✯✯ 1/2
Jon Watts' Cop Car has all the essential bearings of a post-modernist 80's horror tribute, and yet it chooses to go in a different direction, rather deciding to be an effective crime thriller all on its own. The soundtrack is psychedelic, to say the least, and Kevin Bacon's mustache is the creepiest thing since Elijah Wood ate livers in Sin City. Seriously, I felt that the mustache could've jumped off his face and acted on its own at any given point. It would've seemed fitting with the rest of the weird tone that goes on throughout the film.
Cop Car has a very simple story with a simple, albeit unexpectedly intense, outcome. Its pacing is deliberately slow, as if testing the audience to see how many can last through the dragging dread looming in its atmosphere. I'll admit that it takes some getting used to, especially with that hyper-weird opening intro song. Seriously, what was up with that? I wonder what it would be like watching this movie while high. I'm sure it would be an eye-opening experience.
The two kids are perfect at playing basically themselves: two hapless morons who try to run away from home and don't know the first thing about gun safety. Once they find the "cop car," all bets are off, and they are lead in a downward spiral that will change their lives forever. Cop Car doesn't need a lot of time to unfold its relatively simplistic story, and it loves taking its sweet time in building tension and suspense, but once it gets over that big hill, it turns into a sharp drop into insanity. Admittedly, I thought the ending felt a little rushed for its own good, but the action was a welcome distraction from the slow pacing. Watts even manages to slip in a subtle reference to Spielberg's freshman masterpiece Duel, although that may be just a matter of my opinion.
In essence, Cop Car is a great, unique film that unfolds its story slowly but deliberately. Once you get through the first 30 minutes or so, there should be plenty of well-rounded plot elements that will keep you interested to find out how it ends. I promise that it's worth it.