Times must be tough if a movie starring Bruce Willis and
Sigourney Weaver opens domestically to a dismal $1.8 million. Then again, the
majority of movie-goers probably weren't aware that The Cold Light of Day was even released on Sept. 14th.
Summit Entertainment must have seen the writing on the wall and didn't waste
any of their Twilight money on
marketing a surefire flop.
The still-unknown Henry Cavill headlines the picture as Will
Shaw, a business consultant reluctantly joining his family on vacation in
Spain. Will has an icy relationship with his father, Martin (Willis), a
cultural attaché whose work meant he didn't spend a lot of time with his wife and
kids. While swimming ashore for supplies, Will returns to their boat to find
his mother (Caroline Goodall), brother (Rafi Gavron), and brother's girlfriend
(Emma Hamilton) have been kidnapped. Turns out, Martin is really a CIA agent,
who stole a briefcase of valuable contents from the Mossad. The Israelis want
the case in exchange for the Shaws. Too bad Martin is murdered by his corrupt
handler, Jean Carrack (Weaver). American officials at the embassy don't believe
him and local police want to arrest him. Will's only help comes from a feisty
woman named Lucia (Verónica Echegui), who turns out be his half-sister.
The Cold Light of Day
is second rate dreck, produced from a screenplay co-written by Scott Wiper
whose biggest contribution to cinema is the Steve Austin vehicle The Condemned. This is the type of
Z-grade junk usually reserved for an aging Steven Seagal. Only the presence of
Willis and Weaver save it from the direct-to-video wasteland. Both are bigger
stars than this film deserves and probably only took part for a quick paycheck
and a free vacation. Willis is only briefly seen and when he is onscreen he can
barely muster an iota of energy. With a better script, Weaver might have made
an interesting villain, but she has nothing to chew on besides a steady stream
of stilted dialogue.
The burden rests solely on the broad shoulders of Henry
Cavill, a handsome Brit being positioned as the next big thing. Time will tell
if Cavill becomes an A-lister or the next Taylor Kitsch. He hasn't shown the
type of charisma or acting chops that he must have shown to be cast as Superman
in next year's Man of Steel. Then
again, neither The Cold Light of Day
nor Immortals are the best material
to show off Cavill's range. As Will Shaw, he's reduced to playing the ugly
American who complains how no one speaks English.
Director Mabrouk El Mechri gained notice for the
meta-textual dramedy, JCVD, with
Jean-Claude Van Damme playing a version of himself. El Mechri had potential to
deliver something stylish considering the opening action sequence of JCVD done as one continuous shot.
Instead, the action in Cold Light is
utterly pedestrian with shootouts and car chases jarringly edited.
The Cold Light of Day
is what happens when you cross Hitchcock with The Bourne Identity, then did it in the most inept way possible.
Rating: * (*****)
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