Cold in July

Starring: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Vinessa Shaw, Nick Damioi, Brogan Hall, Don Johnson
Directed by: Jim Mickle
Rating: R
Genre: Thriller
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A father (Michael C. Hall) teams with a convict (Sam Shepard) when they uncover a startling secret that ties them together.

Review:

Tim: I was looking forward to seeing Cold in July- I'm a big fan of Michael C. Hall from "Dexter" and I'd heard exceptional feedback about this movie. It's a compelling, exciting thriller that throws some very unexpected twists at the audience. I enjoyed the movie, but it's small scale felt like it blunted the effectiveness of the movie a bit. This was a good movie, but it's not much more than that.

The story surprised me. As it begins, you immediately suspect it'll tread a familiar path- father verses con, defending his family. The movie wildly spins off the expected course and I loved that. It subverts any expectations you have fairly early on, instead careening into a totally unexpected direction. That's easily the movie's biggest strength- it's not what you expect. When you've seen a lot of movies (and I'm over 2,860+ now), you tend to see the same things over and over again. Anything different or new is greatly appreciated. This script is more intelligent than many rolling out of Hollywood, which immediately makes this worth your time.

The cast is fairly strong. I thought Michael C. Hall had some absolutely tremendous moments in the film. I really like him and wanted to love his performance. While I did enjoy most of it, there were a few moments when his acting didn't come across as believable- it felt like I was watching a television-quality actor still honing his craft. That's hard for me to say because I hoped this would be a breakthrough performance. As a whole, Hall does excel, but there were a few too many weak moments. Sam Shepard delivers a wonderful supporting performance. He has the gritty, beat-down-by-life thing going here and it was great entertainment to watch. He played this part perfectly- he is menacing, yet he never loses his humanity. This isn't a one-dimensional character. That was essential to the film. Don Johnson also adds a very strong supporting performance. I often forget that Johnson has some real talent, so it was great fun seeing it on display here. The rest of the cast is good, but the biggest attraction is seeing these three men share screen time together. Their characters couldn't be more different, which is a large reason why their interactions are so entertaining.

Another appealing aspect of this film is that it's rather small and intimate. This is obviously not a big budget production. While that is occasionally limiting, it also gives the film a more realistic feel. This isn't a slick Hollywood production- it certainly feels gritty and real. I thought the story itself was decently interesting, but I never fully felt connected to the characters. I didn't love any of them, so there was little to no emotional connection. The movie took events that we've seen dozens of times before and did repackage them in a unique way. That was appreciated, although it still meant certain sections of the movie did feel like we'd seen it before.

In the end, I did enjoy Cold in July and would consider it a solid movie that I'd recommend to others. However, it wasn't nearly memorable enough to really set itself apart. All around, it was a good effort, but it wasn't any more than just that.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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