What's the worst thing you did as a kid? For the protagonists in Cop Car, it looks like the act of stealing the vehicle in the film's title would take that honor. Of course, when that cop is Kevin Bacon, and his trunk is loaded with a mysterious payload, things are bound to go just a bit deeper into the land of trouble. See for yourself in the trailer below.
Yahoo released the first look at the next film from Clown director Jon Watts, and it sounds like a damned good time. Cop Car, as promised, shows two young boys jackassing in the woods and getting into mischief as any two kids with time on their hands would do. Surprisingly enough, they stumble upon an abandoned cop car, and decide it'd be an awesome idea to steal it. For a moment, it is pretty awesome, until Kevin Bacon's crooked sheriff realizes the car's missing, and will do anything to get it back.
Cop Car looks like a fun hybrid between Joy Ride and Stand By Me, and with a promised run time of 88 minutes, it sounds like this flick is a lean and mean thrill ride. Anchoring the trailer is some terrific work by young actors James Freedson-Jackson and Hays Wellford, who look like they have absolutely no problem matching up to the acting force of nature that is Kevin Bacon. With yet another threatening yet charmingly sleazy performance under his belt, that's not an easy feat considering the level the actor finds himself currently inhabiting.
As for the technical and aesthetic side of the equation, it looks like Jon Watts has done a pretty good job of jumping from one of the most grotesque and freaky looking horror films ever to a solid, more realistically anchored thriller like Cop Car. For reference, take a look at the Clown trailer below, and then go back up and watch the Cop Car trailer again.
If the editing of the trailers is any indication, Clown looks like more of a visceral, haunting horror film, while Cop Car looks like the more even-handed and deliberately paced feature that will ramp up towards its ultimate conclusion. Should this film live up to the promises its trailers make, there's a very good chance that not only will Cop Car wind up on some top 10 lists, it'll surely be a highlight of Kevin Bacon's recently re-surging career.
Cop Car hits theaters on August 7th, with a VOD release occurring a week after.
