Continuity mistake: The first scene with Murray Babitch driving across the George Washington Bridge from New York to New Jersey was actually filmed going the other direction. When driving from New York to New Jersey on the lower level of the bridge you enter a black tunnel first, and exit through a yellow tiled tunnel. The scene in the film starts in the yellow tiled tunnel - New Jersey to New York direction.
Copland (1997)
Directed by: James Mangold
Starring: Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Ray Liotta, Harvey Keitel
Continuity mistake: In one of the scenes, Sheriff Heflin is playing a record, and the music we hear is a song by Springsteen. However, the record doesn't have the red Columbia Records label that all of Springsteen's albums have. They obviously decided to use Springsteen's song later.
Continuity mistake: There's a scene after Superboy jumps from the bridge with a paramedic smoking a cigarette close to the butt. The camera switches and suddenly his cigarette is a freshly lit one.
Trivia: In the trailer, there is a scene in which a purple Geo Tracker is doing a 180 degree turn. This scene is not in the film.
Moe Tilden: That cupcake makes a mess and we got a case again.
Sheriff Freddy Heflin: You people are all the same.
Ray Donlan: You know the difference between men and boys? Boys bet everything on everything! Boys think every hand is a royal flush! You play cards with a man, he knows his limits.
Question: Did Ray set up the killing of Joey Randone because of what he saw them do, or was it just luck on Ray's part that he was attacked and left hanging from a TV aerial to then plunge to his death, and this is why he stalled for time with the door lock?
Question: Harvey Keitel was supposed to have been a highly respected veteran officer with the NYPD with connections within the department and other agencies as stated in the movie. With all that power and connections, it puzzles me why his character is still a patrol officer working beat shifts as shown in the scene when he intentionally let Joey fall to his death on the roof. He shows up in uniform in a patrol car with his other crooked partner responding to the call.
Answer: Being a higher-up not only means more responsibility, but also closer scrutiny. As a low-level beat cop, it allows Donlan a lesser profile, greater mobility out on the street, to be at crime scenes without suspicion, and he can more easily and covertly interact with his criminal accomplices and contacts. Being tied to an office would be a hindrance; he can wield his corrupt power more effectively this way.
Actually, Donlan is a Lieutenant, which is a pretty high rank.
Answer: Yes that's correct but in actuality it's highly unlikely a veteran officer would stay in patrol their entire career, crooked cop or not, unless they work for a very small department and there are no opportunities to move up.
Yes, in the real world, it is indeed highly unlikely he would spend his entire career on patrol. For the purpose of the movie, it serves the plot to have the Donlan character written as a mobile beat cop for the reasons stated. It also allows for more action and sets up the final confrontation between Stallone and the crooked cops. Movies just do not reflect reality.
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Answer: I would think this would just have been random luck. There is no way you can just pay some random criminal to find and single out Joey and his partner to attack. With all the cops on patrol anyone of them could have responded to that call, so that was just pure luck that Joey and his partner encountered the criminal that threw him to his death on the roof.