Columbus Day

Reading the cover of Columbus Day i thought i was in for a tense heist film. Wrong. This is Val Kilmer after a heist in a park on and off the phone with an annoying child in tow. Marg Helgenberger of CSI fame is completely sidelined and wasted in a small role. The little action there is is badly shot and amateurish. Val Kilmer does what he can with the role he is given but even he cannot save this film. At 1 hour 26 minutes this film is short but to me felt like an eternity. You take your chance with low budget B movies like these, and you can uncover some gems. This however is not one of them.

Columbus Day - My Review Current mood: hungover Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Val Kilmer has had a strange sort of career. At it's height he starred in some big movies such as Top Gun , Batman Forever and heat but since then he had made countless unremarkable films including some real bad ones , the worst being The Saint. I'm not sure the reason for the career slump but i think it might have something to with the reputation he got for being an awkward and moody , on and off set. Whatever the reason I'm please to announce the The Kilmer is back with undoubtedly one his best performances seen in recent years!

After the heist of his life, a thief hides out in a city park as he plans to strike a deal to unload the stolen goods. There, he begins an unusual friendship with a precocious boy, prompting him to reach out via phone to his ex-wife and estranged daughter, who he hopes will reunite with him now that he is about to be rich. As his business deal begins to unravel, he fights to keep the kid out of harm's way and escape to Florida to join up with his family.

Forget that this is a heist movie because that is only a sub plot in what is a superbly acted and directed movie about people , friendship and the fight with what should be their priorities in life.

The interaction between John Cologne ( Kilmer) and 12 year old ( Antoine) Bobb'e J. Thompson is delightful. At first Cologne finds him a distraction but the young boys charm draws him in and they end up with a strong Bond between them.

There are also some good cameos from Marg Helgenberger ( of C.S I Fame) and Lobo Sebastian who plays gangland boss Jimmy Espinosa

Director Charles Burmeister has made a little gem of a movie here that may well give Val Kilmer the career boost that undoubtedly his acting deserves.

Apparently Val Kilmer had to undergo over an hour of daily makeup to look older for the role but to be fair apart from putting on a few pounds he didn't look to different from the old days.

Columbus Day just goes to show that you don't need big budgets and multi million dollar stars to make a great movie.

8 out of 10

I don't know what movie a few of those reviewers were watching because this is Val Kilmer at his best. Columbus Day is a fantastic film all of the way through. I absolutely loved it.

To start, the acting is superb. Even more importantly is the exquisite way in which this film was shot. The attention to detail, high level camera work and manner in which the story unfolded and was depicted was beyond impressive.

I was also fully engrossed in the story and the romantic plot was organic and engrossing. I think that this film is totally underrated and deserves high level praise because it was a seriously captivating and entertaining watch for me.

I'm with llanderson - I really signed up today on IMDb just to leave a comment on this movie. I was surprised to someone else had the same thought, and within 24 hours of me.

I'm a Val Kilmer fan - I saw this in RedBox and was surprised I hadn't seen it, and expected something along the lines of Spartan or Heat, or even that movie where he's like 1/32nd Indian and he's an FBI agent out on some reservation. He literally walks around in a park the ENTIRE movie, makes a gazillion phone calls to three cute actresses you recognize but probably don't know their names and Fez from that 70's show. Fez tells him at one point that his colleagues buddy probably has his nuts in a vice somewhere and is giving him up, so you really expect to see some hardcore torture or gruesome action coming up, but instead Val pays some guy feeding pigeons to take care of the unusually short kid who's been following him around all day. That really is it.

Originally written and directed by charles burmeister. Some interesting drama over a second, remixed version of the film. Scenes added in later by one of the producers. Val Kilmer spends most of the film walking around a pond, calling people from a pay phone. And his own cell phone. From the flash backs, it looks like a heist went bad. He asks a little kid to help him, which would be pretty weird now. Although the kid seems lonely, and wants to talk to someone. Anyone. Co-stars Wilmer Valderrama from That 70s Show. It's a caper, but we're never sure what's about to happen. It's good, if you have the patience to just go with it. And there really are swan boats you can rent at Echo Park!