Sly Stallone in 'good acting' shock!

A rare highlight of the Cannes Film Festival a few years ago was a work-in-progress screening of James Mangold's downbeat thriller CopLand, which promised to redefine Sylvester Stallone's image as the thinking man's lunk. A low-key tale of police corruption and complex community intrigue, CopLand featured Stallone as an awkward schlubb with a hearing impediment whose character owed more to that of James Stewart in It's A Wonderful Life than to any of Sly's previous Rocky or Rambo incarnations. Even in its unfinished form, the film seemed exceptionally promising, especially when one remembered just how many out-right no-brainers Stallone had featured in since first starring in the soft-porn romp Party At Kitty And Studs (aka Italian Stallion) back in the early 70s.

Indeed, I was so impressed by Stallone's performance that I decided to attempt to get an interview with him, something I usually try to avoid at all costs. Finally cornered at his Cannes hotel after much celebrity stalking on my part, the big man himself assured me (and the good listeners of Radio One) that he was done with big stupid action roles, and was now looking to expand his palette into sensitive guys who do more than grunt, punch and shoot. Admirable sentiments, made all the more worthy by the revelation that Sly had received a mere $60,000 for his starring turn in CopLand, in contrast to the $60 million three-picture deals with which he had been making the headlines. A new, 'artistic' Sylvester Stallone had apparently been born, and the cinema seemed a better place for it.