# Cop Car (film)
**Cop Car** is a 2015 American independent thriller directed by [Jon Watts](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-watts), in which two young boys find an apparently abandoned police cruiser in a Colorado field and take it for a joyride, drawing the murderous small-town sheriff who owns it into a deadly pursuit. It stars [Kevin Bacon](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-bacon) as Sheriff Kretzer, with James Freedson-Jackson as Travis and Hays Wellford as Harrison, and was written by Watts with Christopher Ford.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car) • [2](https://thetvdb.com/movies/cop-car)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Jon Watts, co-written with Christopher Ford[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car) |
| Lead cast | Kevin Bacon (Sheriff Kretzer), James Freedson-Jackson (Travis), Hays Wellford (Harrison), Camryn Manheim (Bev), Shea Whigham[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car) • [2](https://thetvdb.com/movies/cop-car) |
| Festival and release | Premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival; US limited theatrical release August 7, 2015[3](https://mande.net/btl/crafts/post-production/mpc-ny-colorist-james-tillett-grades-jon-watts-thriller-cop-car) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car) |
| Budget | About $800,000[4](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-jon-watts-spider-man-cop-car-20150809-story.html) |
| Runtime and rating | 88 minutes by Universal and TVDB listings, 86 minutes by some reviews; rated R for language, violence, and brief drug use[5](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/cop-car) • [6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cop-car-2015) |
| Reception | 82% Tomatometer from 89 reviews and 53% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 66 on Metacritic[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cop-car/critic-reviews/) |
| US box office | $128.0K, distributed by Focus World[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Two boys, Travis and Harrison, walk through a field, climb a barbed wire fence, and find a cop car in a lightly wooded area. Travis dares Harrison to touch it; finding nobody around, they explore the vehicle, discover the keys fallen from the visor, and drive off wildly through the open field.[2](https://thetvdb.com/movies/cop-car) The car belongs to a county sheriff who has left something of great value inside and is desperate to get it back; a fast-paced game of cat-and-mouse follows, and the boys discover they are in far over their heads.[8](https://www.moviebuff.com/cop-car) Rotten Tomatoes' synopsis adds that the car's murderous owner has stashed a hostage in the trunk.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car) A Spanish-language synopsis states the corrupt officer had transported a corpse in the vehicle.[9](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-234946/)
## Production
Watts has said the story grew from a recurring dream he had as a child, in which his ten-year-old friend drove his mother's car through their town while he sat nervously in the passenger seat; he pitched the idea to co-writer Christopher Ford, and the question of whose car it was gave them the story. The film was shot where Watts grew up, in fields he had walked through as a boy.[10](https://www.fangoria.com/qa-director-jon-watts-on-cop-car-kevin-bacon-and-cursing-kids/) The Los Angeles Times describes the result as a minimalist neo-noir made for about $800,000.[4](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-jon-watts-spider-man-cop-car-20150809-story.html)
The film was shot on the ARRI Alexa. MPC New York colorist James Tillett completed the grade on Baselight, building scene-to-scene consistency and a gradual progression in the color palette toward the chaotic final scenes, with a filmic, natural look true to the photography.[3](https://mande.net/btl/crafts/post-production/mpc-ny-colorist-james-tillett-grades-jon-watts-thriller-cop-car) Production companies included Audax Films, Dark Arts Film, End Cue, and Park Pictures Features.[2](https://thetvdb.com/movies/cop-car)
## Release and reception
Cop Car premiered at the 2015 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) in [Park City, Utah](https://www.edgepedia.org/park-city-utah), and opened in US theaters on August 7, 2015.[3](https://mande.net/btl/crafts/post-production/mpc-ny-colorist-james-tillett-grades-jon-watts-thriller-cop-car) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car) It grossed $128.0K in the United States through distributor Focus World.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car)
Critics responded well. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 82% Tomatometer from 89 reviews, with a critics consensus praising its terrific premise and grimly gripping opening act while noting an uneven denouement; the audience Popcornmeter score is 53%.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car) Metacritic records a Metascore of 66, based on 13 positive, 7 mixed, and 1 negative review.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cop-car/critic-reviews/) [Richard Roeper](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-roeper) of the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) wrote that Watts achieves "a kind of early Coen brothers, early Tarantino feel," and Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail gave it a perfect score.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cop-car/critic-reviews/) Odie Henderson at RogerEbert.com called it one of the better genre offerings of 2015, noting its debts to 1980s action plots, 1970s highway imagery, and the [Amblin Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/amblin-entertainment) universe, while praising Bacon for inhabiting the murderous sheriff without overplaying him.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cop-car-2015) More critical voices included Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who called a decent premise wasted in modest, unimaginative suspense, and Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly, who felt it was an excellent short film stretched into a mediocre feature.[11](https://www.movienco.co.uk/films/cop-car/reviews/)
## Legacy
Cop Car became a calling card for Watts: Fango reported that it won him the job directing the next [Spider-Man](https://www.edgepedia.org/spider-man) reboot, following his earlier horror film [Clown](https://www.edgepedia.org/clown-film).[10](https://www.fangoria.com/qa-director-jon-watts-on-cop-car-kevin-bacon-and-cursing-kids/) Watts later drew on the same kid-centric perspective in [Spider-Man: Homecoming](https://www.edgepedia.org/spider-man-homecoming), saying that John Hughes movies were about letting teenagers be themselves on screen.[12](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/marvel-movies/spider-man-homecoming-2017-interviews/)
## References
1. [Cop Car, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cop_car)
2. [Cop Car, TheTVDB.com](https://thetvdb.com/movies/cop-car)
3. [MPC NY Colorist James Tillett Grades Jon Watts' Thriller Cop Car, M&E](https://mande.net/btl/crafts/post-production/mpc-ny-colorist-james-tillett-grades-jon-watts-thriller-cop-car)
4. [Jon Watts who? One director's super-size leap to 'Spider-Man' reboot, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-jon-watts-spider-man-cop-car-20150809-story.html)
5. [Cop Car, Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/cop-car)
6. [Cop Car movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cop-car-2015)
7. [Cop Car critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cop-car/critic-reviews/)
8. [Cop Car, Moviebuff.com](https://www.moviebuff.com/cop-car)
9. [Coche policial, SensaCine.com](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-234946/)
10. [Q&A: Director Jon Watts On COP CAR, Kevin Bacon And Cursing Kids, Fangoria](https://www.fangoria.com/qa-director-jon-watts-on-cop-car-kevin-bacon-and-cursing-kids/)
11. [Cop Car reviews, Movie'n'co](https://www.movienco.co.uk/films/cop-car/reviews/)
12. [The making of Spider-Man: Homecoming, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/marvel-movies/spider-man-homecoming-2017-interviews/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Thriller and mystery films › Titles symbols to E*
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