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Cold in July

Started by Shoulders?-Stomach!, June 30, 2014, 12:37:00 AM

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Shoulders?-Stomach!

This is a shockingly poorly made film.

Firstly it isn't a psychological thriller anymore than ROAD HOUSE is a psychological thriller.

Secondly it's a mess, two different things in my one film. It wants to be a gritty kitchen sink twisty family drama. It also wants to be a balls out 80s channelling action exploitation flick about dudes with guns taking down a snuff movie business. Yeah...so, it really made little sense.

The main character starts off being absolutely terrified of violence and damaged by it afterwards then later volunteers to return to a fight he has no part in, no stake in at all gun in each hand to fight the dixie mafia.

Why does anyone think this is good?

Funcrusher

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on June 30, 2014, 12:37:00 AM

Secondly it's a mess, two different things in my one film. It wants to be a gritty kitchen sink twisty family drama. It also wants to be a balls out 80s channelling action exploitation flick about dudes with guns taking down a snuff movie business. Yeah...so, it really made little sense.


I'd say there's a third as well which is Coen bros quirky dark - the main guy is very nerdy to the point of being a punchline, the sheriff is kind of goofy, Don Johnson's a bit like John Goodman. So it really is a bit of a tonal mish mash.

I found it watchable but nothing amazing. It's frustrating because there are good touches - when Sam Shepard is just being menacing early on it's a really effective performance. I forgot until the credits that this is based on some Joe R Lansdale book, which explained a lot as the story is more gratuitous nastiness than proper Southern noir/hardboiled, so a trashy splatterpunk horror author branching out into crime would be about right. I think stuff like this gets good notices just because Hollywood pretty much doesn't produce any vaguely real world adult thrillers without CGI anymore, so anything half decent gets raves.