ShangLuda
Admirable film.
FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Siflutter
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
phgphg-03679
totally unbelievable , things just don't add up , you kill a man and then your wife is worried about the design on the sofa you just bought to replace bloodied one ? shallow or what ? put the bloodied seat covers out for the binman without wrapping them first ? our binmen wouldn't take them , risk of disease etc ! police leave a drugged man on the rail tracks but fail to wait for the train ?three guys then go on the hunt to find out who done what to who , and then the family guy turns into a pallid sort of clint eastwood when he was supposed to be so shook up about killing an intruder , has he all of a sudden grew some ?the world doesn't work like that !whoever wrote this load of rubbish needs to go back to the drawing board
Tss5078
For lack of better terminology, these dark, southern, noirish, dramas have become all the rage in Hollywood. Films like Winter's Bone, Joe, and Mud have been highly critically acclaimed and have come to define the 2010 decade in film, but where there is success, there are bound to be copycats, enter Cold In July. Whoever thought that Don Johnson would have any kind of chemistry with Dexter what so ever, must have been out of there mind, as right from the beginning, this film was doomed. A simple man kills a home invader and is stalked by the father of the man he killed. Obsessed with taking a life and wanting to know more about what led to this man become the person he's become, Dane (Michael C. Hall) and his team of misfits, stalk the family right back and uncover an even bigger mystery. While this story had potential, the writers thought it was too dark and decided to have some fun with it. Isn't that nice of them, to combine misplaced comic relief with actors who have no chemistry at all? Cold In July doesn't only lack chemistry but it also lacks focus. At times this film is as dark and serious as it gets, then just as quickly everyone is drunk and paling around, it just doesn't fit and it doesn't work. The whole genre of these films is dark, disparaging, and sometime disturbing. If their is any humor or positivity to be had, it typically occurs at the very end. Michael C. Hall pretty much has the same dry personality as Dexter, except with a family and a conscious, while Don Johnson is the psychopath who wants to hurt people and thinks it's funny. The bottom line is this film is just a mess of actors who don't belong with each other, characters who should never have gotten along, jumping between scenes that are the complete polar opposites of one another. I liked the story and there are a few interesting moments, but it's just isn't enough to carry the film.
Gentzen
(Spoilers follow) Not sure what positive reviews may be about. What I saw was: 1) Huge plot holes: the issue of the burglar's identity, one of the chief reasons for the main character's questing, dropped without explanation, police involvement and cover-up given but the most cursory of treatments, the Dixie Mafia connection just mentioned, etc., I could go on all day. 2) Lack of realism: a quiet small-town framer, suddenly and without adequate explanation, goes along with people he had no acquaintance of just days before (in movie time) into a firefight with snuff movie syndicate characters. None of the other characters involved (either on the "good guys'" side or the "bad guys'" side) have any real prior involvement with him. No proper build-up into this change of character is provided, no insight into the inner process that induces such a transformation is even alluded to. 3) Acting: unconvincing and dull, at best.In sum: it's meant to be a gritty drama-thriller, but it's boring, generally lacks pace (without any good reason, as rarely any time is spent in introspective insights into the inner path each person takes to the final shoot-out) and fails to give viewers any compelling reason why they should follow this guy's detour from average Joe (with hardly any redeeming features) to gun-totting vigilante and back to average Joe.
bcheng93
totally loved this movie, which is set in the late 80's. it was good to see Don Johnson again and he was awesome in this movie. Michael Hall and Sam Shephard did a hell of a job too.the over-all rating of close to 7 is very fair for this movie, it was an engrossing watch and i didn't want it to end. except for when the VHS tape was playing and i knew what it was gonna be about, the other twists i didn't see coming. i would classify this movie as a modern western, thriller noir with a very good score. if you are not a nit-picker and give this movie a chance then you're going to enjoy a real little gem of a movie. there's so much evil in this world and i totally believe the evil that was perpetrated in this movie. hooray for the vigilantes and men of honor.
