The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino, Donnie Brasco, Once Upon a Time in America, hell even Johnny Dangerously. These are the kinds of movies you associate with a certain Italian culture that Hollywood loves to perpetuate. They revolve around an offensive, totally untrue, stereotypical ideology that is simply non-existent. Obviously, movies about families who make their fortunes off the waste management business simply wouldn’t sell as well, so lazy writers have been relegated to pushing this false narrative of the nonexistent “mafia”, as we shall call it.
And the people eat it up. Much like everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, everybody feels a little Italian after watching one of these masterpieces of cinema or spending days binge-watching The Sopranos. They’ll slap a chain around their neck, try to order the gabagool when they’re out to eat, and utter Italian words in the middle of a conversation before stating they’ll “make him an offer he can’t refuse” whenever trying to get someone to do something miniscule for them. Even though chances are they’re suburban jagoffs who have nothing to offer that anyone would have trouble refusing, much less even want in the slightest.
That’s how great these movies are, though. They’ve allowed the average joe to feel as if they’re getting an inside look behind the scenes of a very secretive organization that only the toughest men wearing the fanciest suits (track or three-piece) belong to, and they’ll turn off Netflix after watching and immediately try to trace their own lineage, which probably has 0% Italian in it, back to Sicily, just because the movies make them want to be made guys. What makes these movies so great? Aside from the stories and directing, it’s the actors who we see time and time again showing up in mob movies. The ones you’ll forever associate as Made Guys regardless of if the character they’re playing is just a dirty old grandpa or some random cameo in a Muppets movie.
And that’s why, not counting any movie that revolves mainly around this alleged government conspiracy called “The Mafia”, I have found the absolute greatest Italian movie ever made. Going over the cast for this movie you’d think it’d be about the so called (yet not real) Five Families or a (totally fabricated and untrue) period piece showing the rise and fall of a high-ranking member of an organized crime syndicate. Yet, it’s the opposite of what mob movies represent. It’s centered around the bad guys in those movies and shows, the ones who have taken their own oath, to protect and serve, and are a part of a family of the Thin Blue Line. The movie is a 90’s gem called Cop Land.
Before we get to the players, a quick synopsis: While it doesn’t deal *specifically* with the mafia, this is still a story riddled with crime, murder and a full-blown act of racketeering through the NYPD. Sylvester Stallone plays Freddy Heflin, sheriff of the town of Garrison, NJ, a fictional town that sits right over the George Washington bridge, making it a quick and easy commute for an NYPD officer. Except due to NYPD rules (at the time the movie was made), you must live within the city limits in order to be an active member of the force. So Lt. Ray Donlan, played by Harvey Keitel, finds a loophole where the 37th precinct is able to be classified as auxiliary NYPD cops, and therefore can live in the quaint little town of Garrison. Sheriff Heflin is deaf in one ear due to an accident as a teen and unable to get on the NYPD because of this. Stallone also plays him semi-retarded but I don’t know if the script called for that or it was a creative choice. Donlan sets up his guys to all live in this “Copland” together, buddying up to Freddy and avoiding any trouble or ever getting jammed up.
Ray basically runs the town and clearly makes his own rules, knows the right people, and is able to keep his hands clean. Eventually his nephew, a recently dubbed “hero” cop on the force, played by Michael Rappaport who is also semi-retarded (the actor, not the character. Actually, both probably) fucks up and shoots two black dudes on the GW and chaos ensues. Ray has his nephew fake his suicide, nobody believes him, it becomes a giant PR nightmare that brings attention (and those rat bastards from IA, played by Robert De Niro) to his cop oasis of Garrison. Ray has to figure out how to hide his slow, drooling nephew, leading him to eventually realize he really does need him to die in order for this problem to go away. There’s some shootouts, some great one liners, Stallone depressingly lisening to Springsteen while drinking (in probably the most accurate portrayal of my own life I’ve ever seen), some shouting and racism, and the eventual Freddy becoming the hero, even if it’s not as a member of the NYPD.
It’s a great movie made even greater by the casting decisions to go with basically anyone they could grab from Mafia movies or knew in the not too distant future would be in an episode of The Sopranos. While not every one of these actors in the movie has a blood type of ragu, the ones who aren’t lucky enough to come from an Italian background are still listed because of a role they’ve had that met mob movie or TV criteria, specifically in almost any Scorsese movie, being on the Sopranos, or just due to my own personal discretion. In fact, the lead role isn’t known for being a mafioso character actor, but you’d be hard pressed to argue he isn’t the epitome of Italian Americans. Lets break down the cast like a well run criminal organization.
The Administration
Sylvester Stallone
You think of Sylvester Stallone and you don’t immediately think Mafia movies. In fact, he’s rarely played characters who are involved in this thing of ours. No, Stallone immediately makes you think of Rocky Balboa, running up the steps or screaming Adrians name in the chaos after his match against Apollo. Sure, he starred in a forgotten movie called Oscar, where he plays a gangster with the last name Provolone. He was Frank Nitti in the movie Capone before he was a household name. As of now, he can be seen starring in the Tulsa King, playing a mafia capo who is building an organized crime empire of his own in Tulsa. So his resume does include enough to be on this list, even if his most famous character didn’t exist. He’s also got the greatest, most badass straight-laced Italian American character outside of Rocky to his credit, none other than Marion “Cobra” Cobretti. Seen here enjoying fine Italian cuisine with the use of scissors.
Yet, none of that matters because Sylvester Stallone will forever be synonymous with Rocky Balboa, the goddamn Italian Stallion. That’s why he sits atop this list. He brings with him the everyman story of a small time, poor Italian American who was able to overcome the odds and live the American dream. Isn’t that basically the story of Vito Corleone, but just told in the boxing ring? Plus, in the original Rocky, he starts off as hired muscle for a loan shark named Gazzo, who lets be honest here probably (most definitely) had some ties himself to organized crime. Not to mention, the guy playing Gazzo, Joe Spinell, was in The Godfather I and II, so essentially Stallone/Rocky is one degree of separation from The Godfather.
Robert De Niro
While Stallone brings that Italian Stallion appeal to the movie from the get go, De Niro as an internal affairs investigator looking into Garrison is really what drives this casting home for us Italian Americans. While most of the people on this list you’ll recognize from Scorsese movies or The Sopranos, De Niro also brings with him the credibility of the mothership of Mafia movies, The Godfather. Yes, it was in the sequel, however it’s arguably one of the few times people will often say the sequel was better than the first. I don’t agree with that, but fuhgettabouttit, to each his own. This man played Don Vito Corleone for Christs sakes. De Niro is also of course a staple of Scorsese mob movies. While The Godfather is Ali, a lot of people will say Goodfellas is Tyson. I could watch the scene where Jimmy decided to whack everyone involved in the heist, which has no dialogue, on repeat for roughly an entire week.
Casino is right up there with Goodfellas, and he’s also got the Analyze Things 1-2 punch of movies, Mean Streets, The Irishman, Once Upon a Time in America, and lets not forget he played one of the most famous mobsters ever, Al Capone, in the Untouchables. Even one of the most underrated mafia films of all time, A Bronx Tale, which he not only co-starred in, but directed. You want a movie to have Italian American credibility, you go out there and get yourself De Niro. He’s even pretty much got the same rags-to-riches Italian American boxing story under his belt as Stallone, playing Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. This movie gives us Rocky vs. Raging Bull on screen, if only someone would turn that into a movie itself.
Eh, nevermind.
Ray Liotta (RIP)
While De Niro (and of course Pesci) are essential to the greatness of Goodfellas, Ray Liotta starring as Henry Hill had just as much of an impact. His narration and acting are what really drives the movie and it’d be hard to see anyone else in that role. He’d go on to play tough guy roles the rest of his life, and he was even offered the part of Tony Soprano before James Gandolfini. While he made a wise choice (nobody else can be Tony) to not take it, he’d eventually have a role in the Sopranos prequel movie, Many Saints of Newark. Ray even played friend to the mob and Italian American icon Frank Sinatra in the movie The Rat Pack. Honestly his character in Cop Land is one of the best parts, nonsensically shouting at Stallones character quite often in addition to accidentally murdering his prostitute girlfriend (the movie has a lot of layers). He even shows up at the end to save Stallones ass in a pretty sweet, badass slow-mo moment.
And lastly, right before Goodfellas he played Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams. While that movie has absolutely nothing to do with the mafia and more to do with making grown men cry, Shoeless Joe himself was involved in one of the earliest, most well-known mafia fixes of all time, the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Did Shoeless Joe help to throw those games? Probably not based on his stats in that World Series, but he admitted to taking money and his name will forever be linked to that scandal. So technically, Liotta played a connected guy before Goodfellas.
Frank Vincent (RIP)
You want to talk about Mafia movie royalty? Sure, you’ve got your De Niro, Pesci, Pacino, Brando and a few others, but Frank Vincent is truly the unsung hero and a key player in some of the greatest mob movies ever. He’s had roles in plenty of them, Gotti, Made Men, Witness to the Mob, The Crew (please don’t look into that one), Wise Guys (maybe don’t look into that one either) and has played clearly connected guys on shows like Law and Order and NYPD Blue. That’s not why he’s ranked in the upper echelons of this list though. His work in Raging Bull and Casino are unforgettable, but the two that you will immediately think of when you see him are in Goodfellas and The Sopranos. You’d have trouble finding someone mention the movie Goodfellas without inevitably telling you to “Go home and get your fucking shine box.”
His character Billy Batts opens the movie in the trunk of a car begging for his life and his next scene telling Pesci to get his shine box is arguably the best part of the movie. Yet it’s The Sopranos where he really shines (see what I did there?). Phil Leotardo has some of the best lines in the entire show and his war with Jersey is what inevitably leads to Tonys downfall (if you so choose to believe he doesn’t leave Holstens alive. Personally, I ain’t sayin ‘nothin). Him telling the kids in his family how his grandfathers name was changed from Leonardo to Leotardo because of the stupid, jealous morons at Ellis Island is pure gold, along with any time he mentions his hatred for Vito and his homosexuality. I mean, Phil did 20 years in the can and rather than take part in any of that fanook shit, he jacked off into a tissue! And of course, lets not forget his sit down with with Vitos son
In Cop Land he only has a little screen time as the President of the PDA, so he’s basically an NYPD Jimmy Hoffa.
Harvey Keitel
The main antagonist of the movie, Lt. Ray Donlan, Harvey Keitel masterfully plays the man in who’s really in charge of Garrison, just letting Stallones character think he actually has any authority. He lets a cop who was sleeping with his wife fall to his death off a building, tries to drown his nephew, and through plenty of implied backstory is clearly not a very good guy overall. His place on this list is due to a number of roles, specifically in Scorsese movies like Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, The Irishman and even his first movie Who’s That Knocking at My Door. He can often be found in De Niro movies as the two are good friends. His turn as The Wolf in Pulp Fiction as a cleaner for the organized crime family run by Marcellus Wallace (who, FYI, does not look like a bitch) is unforgettable, and he’s played real life notorious mobsters Meyer Lansky and Mickey Cohen. He also was in Wise Guys with Frank Vincent, but again, the less said about that the better, and played a mobster in Sister Act starring Whoopi Goldberg. That’s range, people. Not to mention, Bad Lieutenant is just an awesome movie, Keitel even hangs dong.
The Capos
Annabella Sciorra (The Sopranos)
Playing the love interest of Stallone in Cop Land is none other than Tony Sopranos hottest goomah, Gloria Trillo, howyadoin?!
Yes, she has had some other roles like in Find Me Guilty where Vin Diesels character is married to both her and his hairpiece, she was in a movie that barely counts but we will let it slide called The Kitchen, and most recently alongside Stallone once again in Tulsa King. Yet Annabella Sciorra will forever be known as Gloria Trillo, the woman who threw a steak at Tony Soprano and had to be told the ending of her life won’t be cinematic if she doesn’t leave him alone.
Arthur J. Nascarella (The Sopranos)
In Cop Land he plays a cop who is one of the closest in Donlans inner circle, but to many he is Carlo Gervasi on The Sopranos. Prior to flipping on Tony in the final episode because of his idiot son selling dope, he was a loyal member of the crew. He’s done a number of other movies and shows where he plays a mobbed up character, and he owns Axe’s favorite pizza place in Yonkers on the TV show Billions, which is pretty fuckin Italian if you ask me. Also side note: He was actually an NYPD cop for 20 years before becoming an actor.
Edie Falco (The Sopranos)
It may have just been a couple of seconds of screen time where shes engaging in some shady shit with Liottas character, but the queen herself, CARMELA SOPRANO, made an appearance in Cop Land. She played an NYPD cop here, but forever and always she’ll Mrs. Tony Soprano. This is pure Italian royalty making a cameo here.
*Alexa, play Con te partiro by Andrea Bocelli*
Frank Pellegrino (Goodfellas, The Sopranos)
The Mayor of New York in Cop Land just wants to watch the Yankee game and doesn’t have time to comment to the press about the corruption scandal in Garrison, NJ. This same guy happens to be the FBI Chief who spent years trying to take down Tony Soprano. If that’s not enough, he also has a memorable line playing real life mobster Johnny Dio serving time with Paulie and Henry in Goodfellas.
While he made an impression in these roles, Frank was also co-owner of the restaurant Rao’s in NYC, one of the most famous Italian restaurants in the country. If you’ve perused the pasta aisle while grocery shopping, you’ve definitely seen their sauces. Give it a shot, it’s the closest you’ll probably come to ever eating their food since the place is impossible to get into.
John Ventimiglia (The Sopranos)
That’s right, the greatest chef in New Jersey played a small role as a cop in Cop Land. Artie Bucco was probably one of the best characters on the show, and sharing screentime with Katherine Narducci never hurt. Not many guys can point a loaded gun at Tony Soprano and live to see another day, but Tony always had a soft spot for his childhood friend Artie. Their friendship is actually one of the best parts of the show, as you gotta figure Tony didn’t really have too many people he could trust. I’d be out to eat as Vesuvios every night if I could too.
Paul Herman (Pretty much every Robert De Niro movie, The Sopranos)
If you’re trying to place this guys face to a movie and never watched The Sopranos, try putting any Robert De Niro movie on. The two were great friends and De Niro always found a part for him. 16 parts, to be exact. From Once Upon a Time in America until The Irishman, these two were in 16 movies together. In Cop Land he plays a carnie who Stallone hustles outta a stuffed animal with his superb shooting skills. A minor part to be sure, as most of his were, and he still owned them. His role as Beansie on Sopranos wasn’t huge but it was memorable enough. The guy may have talked Tony outta whacking Paulie. Even in Goodfellas, him telling Karen he’ll make her see helicopters was one of the best lines.
Tony Sirico (The Sopranos, Goodfellas, The Godfather Part II)
Talk about the ultimate wiseguy on this list, both on screen and in real life. Paulie Walnuts makes probably the briefest appearance in this movie out of anyone. It’s literally just a picture of him, but it’s Paulie, so of course I’m still counting it. The guy we all loved on The Sopranos as much as, if not more than, Tony. This guy agreed to be on the show under one condition, his character never becomes a rat. Paulie was loyal til the very end. He also has what’s basically a cameo in Godfather Part II, but he’s got a little more screen time in Goodfellas, as Tony Stacks, mainly as one of the guys who threatens Henrys mailmans life if he ever delivers a letter from school to his house again.
As if that trifecta of roles isn’t enough, he’s spent plenty of other times playing a wiseguy. In real life he had ties to the Colombo family and was arrested at least 28 times. On screen he’d often be seen with those silver wings on the side of his head, continuing to threaten guys for light envelopes or missed payments. His small, brief, blink if you miss it “role” in this movie just helps to firmly solidify what I’ve been saying about it all along.
Soldiers– These are the ones who further the connection between Cop Land and Mafia movies, though they don’t all scream Italy when you see them, they’re recognizable enough where seeing their face is enough to remind you of their small roles in the Mob movies listed.
Bruce Altman (The Sopranos)
This guy was born to play a smarmy lawyer, his face just screams it. Looking through his past credits, I think that’s basically all he has ever played. He had a role as one in what many consider one of the best episodes of The Sopranos ever, Whitecaps, and in Cop Land he plays a PBA union rep, so basically a lawyer.
Robert Patrick (The Sopranos)
Playing another one of Rays loyal friends in Cop Land, Robert Patrick is someone you’re bound to recoginize immediately. Whether it be Terminator 2 or one of the other million roles he outperforms every other character actor you’ve ever seen, you know his face. In The Sopranos, he’s Tonys childhood friend with a gambling problem who overplays that friendship and winds up oweing Tony a lotta boxes of ziti. Enough, in fact, to have to sell Tony his son’s car, lose his family business, and eventually get divorced and move his entire life and out west to work on a ranch.
Cathy Moriarty (Raging Bull)
She may have only the one necessary credit to her name, but playing De Niros wife in a Martin Scorsese movie is really more than enough. In Cop Land she’s Ray’s wife, the actual aunt of his nephew who fucks things up and makes the movies plot move when she slips him a note letting him know Ray isn’t planning on keeping him around much longer.
Peter Berg (Corky Romano)
Berg plays Officer Randone, who is married to the girl Stallones character saved years ago, causing his ear damage keeping him off the force, and also the one who happens to be banging Rays wife behind his back. Not a good guy, overall, which leads to Stallone sitting alone listening to Springsteen, wistful about the life Randone has. Of course, he probably isn’t too jealous when Ray lets a thug (played by Method Man!) lets him fall from a building. Now, the use of Corky Romano may be a far fetched link, but I think playing the dyslexic son of a Mafia crime boss should get you on here. That’s at its root what Corky Romano is, the tale of a crime boss trying to find his heir apparent for the family, just with some added hijinks and homophobic humor. Though is that any different from any scene in The Sopranos where Phil is talking about Vito? Agree or disagree?
John Doman (The Sopranos, Gotham)
I may be making another stretch here, using the TV show Gotham, but in it Doman played crime lord Carmine Falcone. The don of the Gotham City mafia, the biggest threat to Batman who doesn’t wear makeup or costumes, who rules the corrupt city with an iron fist, is definitely good enough for me. You don’t think that guys sitting down and eating Sunday gravy every week, regardless how many of his soldiers Batman put in the ICU that past week? In Cop Land he’s one of Frank Vincent’s characters right hand men, so he didn’t have much screen time. Oh, and he was also on an episode of The Sopranos, so fuck you if you disagree about Gotham.
Robert John Burke (The Sopranos)
He plays a cop in Cop Land, most likely living in Garrison and on the take, but not much more is given about him. In The Sopranos, he’s animal control who is called out to The Soprano residence after AJ shits his pants because there was a bear in their backyard. Carmela may have wanted to control his animal, leading Tony to make some not so thinly veiled homosexual comments, and that’s pretty much his time on the show.
Terry Serpico (Donnie Brasco)
In Cop Land, it’s this guys picture in a paper who pretty much lets the audience, and Stallone, in on the back story of how Ray set up Ray Liottas former partner to get killed while in prison because he was going to rat out Ray and all the shady shit that had taken place to get Garrison off the ground. In Donnie Brasco, he plays a skeevy club owner who Johnny Depp kicks the shit out of to get Pacinos character to trust him. Pacino also played Frank Serpico (no relation) in the movie Serpico, so that’s kinda a squint really hard and it makes sense type connection to Cop Lands Italian heritage.
Janeane Garofolo (The Sopranos)
She plays a new officer in Garrison, who basically is mansplained by Keitel that she needs to know her role and get back in the car after she pulls him over. In The Sopranos she’s in one scene, playing herself.
Associates– These are the guys who appeared in Cop Land and some other projects further making the Italian connection, but they’re all mostly background extras. And Geraldo.
Michael Gaston (The Sopranos)
*This is actually the Billy Batts of The Sopranos. This is the guy Tony and Christopher run down in the pilot episode trying to get the money he owes them. Unfortunately, there isn’t a scene where he later tells Christopher to go home and get his fuckin’ shine box.
Garry Pastore (The Sopranos, A Bronx Tale, Goodfellas)
P.J. Brown (The Sopranos)
Christopher Del Gaudio (The Sopranos, Donnie Brasco)
Brian Donahue (The Sopranos)
Frank Ferruccio (Goodfellas, Casino)
James Morricone (Donnie Brasco, The Irishman)
Felicia Peluso (Donnie Brasco)
Sal Rinella (The Irishman)
Geraldo Rivera (The Sopranos)
We’ll end on this moron, who plays the same moron in both Cop Land and The Sopranos. Geraldo Rivera. Not much he really brings to the table. He did open Capones vault and embarass himself on national TV. So that’s sorta relevant.
Now that’s one helluva cast for a movie about cops and not the mafia. Also, it should be noted, in the end you find out that Donlan had made a deal with the mafia where they pretty much constructed Garrison in exchange to be allowed to run millions of dollars through the 37th precinct. I mean, this many Italians in one movie, you think there wasn’t going to be some sorta mafia influence happening?
Allegedly.
The Brew Pound 