Veteran LAPD detective Sgt. Lloyd Hopkins (James Woods) is the smartest man in the room and the only one suspecting a serial killer murdering women. Fellow detective Dutch Peltz (Charles Durning) is his main ally. His investigation leads to Kathleen McCarthy (Lesley Ann Warren) who runs a feminist bookstore.

It's a meandering murder mystery. It's nothing special and nothing really grabs me. James Woods is being his James Woods self. Then in the interrogation room, the movie explodes in overacting and overboard character turns. It feels fake. James is doing James to the max and Lesley is pushing the limits to match him. It's a bland police drama until it jumps overboard.

What lifts Cop beyond the range of a normal action film is James Woods's multi-layered performance in the lead. His investigation into a woman's death reveals a serial killer at work, one who's been plying his trade for about 15 years. The problem is that Woods can't convince the police brass of his suspicions, they don't want to alarm the public. He even has a problem with his partner, Charles Durning on the issue.

The connection to these crimes has something to do with feminist author Lesley Ann Warren and what happened back in high school which coincidentally enough is the same alma mater for Woods. Warren's cooperation has to be dragged out of her, she's not able to comprehend that she is the key to the killings.

Woods as the detective is at once dedicated, arrogant, tender, and quite the misogynist on occasion. Any one of these emotions is hard enough, but James Woods manages to achieve them all, sometimes all of them at once. Whatever else he is, he's a man convinced of the rightness of his course and nothing is deterring him whatsoever.

Also in the cast is Charles Haid, late of Hill Street Blues who also is part of the mystery. He too is an alumnus of the high school. Haid plays a sleazy deputy LA County sheriff and plays it well.

For fans of James Woods, an absolute must for them.

This is a pretty average thriller lifted by having the ever-watchable James Woods in the starring role. The elements of the story may be familiar by now - a cop breaking the rules, ignoring his superiors, battling against the odds to solve a case which has become personal - but with Woods as the driving force behind it, this becomes interesting viewing. As is the case with most of his films, Woods is the best thing about this film. He brings a touch of dynamism to his role and seems to be a man with a ton of pent up rage and anger bubbling just under the surface.

A solid supporting cast help Woods out, especially Charles Durning as his laid-back partner and Lesley Ann Warren as his love interest. Although there is a definite lull in the middle of the film, with far too much talk and not enough dialogue, things pick up for the tense finale which sees Woods hunting the killer through a school at night. The sudden ending works wonders, giving Woods a great DIRTY HARRY-type line to the bad guy and ending with an eruption of violence. On the downside, the identity of the killer is a contrived one, and when the plot hinges on events happening at a high school twenty years previously, it all begins to get a bit confusing. Thankfully Woods wins out in the end, with his own special brand of acting making this a film to savour.