Cold in July (2014)

Undescribable Perfection

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Load of rubbish!!

As Good As It Gets

I assumed from seeing the DVD cover, because of characters wearing Stetsons, that this film was a western, but it didn't matter, I saw good ratings from critics for it, so I gave it a go. Basically set in the 1980s, Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall) and his wife Ann (Vinessa Shaw) are startled in the home in the middle of the night by an intruder who has broken in. Richard is shaken by the experience, as he was starled by a noise and accidentally shot the intruder dead, he is identified as wanted felon Freddy Russell. Richard visits the cemetery on the day of Russell's burial, in his car he is confronted by Ben (Sam Shepard), Freddy's father and a paroled convict, he makes a veiled comment about Richard's son Jordan (Brogan Hall). Alarmed, Richard picks up Jordan from school and tells Ann to meet him at the police station, but the police decline to help, as they do not believe it was a direct threat. However, when the Danes return home, they find the front door has broken in, the police put under their protection, surrounding the house, including a guard inside, hoping to catch Ben when he returns. It turns out that Ben never left and has been hiding in the house's crawlspace, he emerges and knocks out the guard, Richard is alerted noticing water dripping from a ceiling window, the police are alerted and break in, but Ben has already escaped out of the window in Jordan's room. Ben is tracked and eventually apprehended in Mexico, Richard is invited to the station to close the case, while there he sees a wanted poster for "Frederick Russell", who looks different to the man he shot. Officer Ray Price (Nick Damici) refuses to listen to Richard's contradictions and discuss the issue, dismissing his claims as a trick of memory due to shock. Richard follows Ben being taken away in an unmarked police car, he sees officers forcibly removing him from the car, injecting him with an unknown substance, splashing alcohol on him, and leaving him on the train tracks to die. Richard saves Ben from being hit by a train, Ben at first does not believe Richard's claims that he that the man he shot was not Freddy. The two dig up Freddy's grave and open the coffin, Ben confirms that the corpse is not his son, and notes that the man's finger tips have been cut off to prevent identification. Ray Price visits Richard and claims that Freddy changed his appearance to avoid capture, explaining the discrepancy in the wanted poster. Richard is then visited by private investigator Jim Bob Luke (Don Johnson), Ben knows him, he says that the name Fred Russell is tied to several widely circulated news stories about the killing of a burglar. Jim comes up with the theory that Freddy got involved with the Dixie Mafia, and that he was caught by Federal investigators, who faked Freddy's death and placed him in Witness Protection in exchange for information. Jim, Richard, and Ben learn that Freddy might be living in Houston under the name "Frank Miller", they attempt to meet him at his home. Instead they find his car containins a number of incriminating video tapes, which turn out to be snuff films, including a film which sees Freddy Russell (Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt and Goldie Hawn) beating a woman to death with a baseball bat. Richard wants to take the tape to the police, but Jim believes the police already know about them and will be unconcerned as Freddy is a valuable informant, the victims are apparently illegal immigrants whom few will miss. Ben resolves to kill his own son at any cost, they track Freddy to a remote mansion where he and his associates are making another snuff film. They infiltrate the mansion and begin killing everyone they encounter, leaving Freddy as the last survivor, Ben hesitates to kill him, and Jim is shot. Freddy shoots both Richard and Ben before Ben finally wounds him, Ben declares himself as Freddy's father, killing his own son, shooting him in the head, and dies from his wounds. Jim and Richard set the mansion on fire and escape with the hostage, the next morning Richard returns home to his family. Also starring Lanny Flaherty as Jack Crow and Ken Holmes as Burglar. Hall as the protective family man, Shepard as the vengeful ex-con father and Johnson as the private investigator each give great performances, what starts as a simple revenge against the death of a son slowly evolves into a much darker story of criminal activities and police corruption, it is thrilling and suspenseful when it needs to be, it is disturbing and has terrific twists along the way, an interesting independent crime drama. Good!

For a lesser-known thriller, I was impressed by what 'Cold in July' had to offer. The storyline is compelling and unpredictable - you have no idea where it's heading based on what happens in the first few scenes. The plot twists are impossible to predict, with the film going in a completely different direction to what I was expecting.The acting in 'Cold in July' is top-notch, with three terrific lead performances. The film is well written and the plot is generally sound, despite a few gray areas where everything isn't totally clear. The pace is relentless from start to finish, there's never a dull moment and the film builds nicely to a tense finale. Overall, a very good thriller.

The story: it starts as kind of a thriller about revenge and it takes turn into a very different direction, becoming unpredictable The acting: very good job by all the cast, with the three leading actors making their characters really interesting. At the end of the movie, I was kind of hoping there would be a sequel just to see the trio in action again. The scenes are very well done, with a small cliché here and there, but in the end it turned out to be one of the most unpredictable movies I've seen. It was also nice to see that Michael C. Hall has potential to go very further than he went on Dexter. Definitely worth a watch.

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.