Film: Cold in July

Moseyed off down the road this evening, in light rain, to my local cinema, for the early evening showing of Cold in July. The nice lady again gave me a replacement for the voucher I gave her, which means I still have an extra one for emergencies. She then chose a seat for me, which meant, obviously, that when I went in, I sat somewhere completely different.

I read an interesting review of this film in the last Evening Standard, which does film reviews on Fridays - and it's pretty much right on the money. Of course, it's set in Texas. To be fair, I've never yet been there, but it does have the reputation of being the most trigger-happy state of the Union. The basic story is that an upstanding citizen - Michael C. Hall (Dexter, Six Feet Under), married to Vinessa Shaw, keeps a gun that belonged to his father, but never actually uses it. He confronts a burglar with it one night, panics, his finger slips, and he accidentally shoots the guy dead. Unfortunately, it seems that the dead man's father - a shaven-headed and menacing Ben Shepard - has just been paroled from prison, and comes looking for revenge. HOWEVER - our upstanding citizen discovers that the cops are definitely up to something, and ends up investigating further with the assistance of an old army buddy of Ben's, now turned private investigator - a delightfully OTT Don Johnson.

It's set in 1989, which allows the story to progress without people finding out stuff for themselves on the internet, so they need someone like Don Johnson. However, the setting also allows them to include the most rockin' soundtrack (literally). Observe the quaint period touches - clunky phones attached to the wall: payphones: a satellite phone (Don Johnson's, of course!) that comes with a small satchel attached - presumably for the battery: VHS. Don Johnson, of course, is in his element - a now-wrinklier version of Sonny Crockett.

It's beautifully made. The direction is terrific, the acting is terrific, the action scenes really scary. The score, as I say, is fantastic. As the newspaper review also pointed out, the last third of the film is just wish-fulfilment; basically, our upstanding citizen learns how to be a real man, and protect his family with a gun. That doesn't detract, however, from how well made it is - it's (generally) a joy to watch, even if you don't really appreciate the ending message.

Tomorrow, The Golden Dream, most likely..