The Cold Light of Day

"In the Cold Light of Day" is no "Bourne Identity". It has something of a made-for-TV look to it. At one point while watching, I was reminded of the 80s action/espionage type films sometimes directed by the likes of Lucio Fulci (Contraband, 1980) or Ruggero Deodato (Cut & Run, 1985). I suspect "In the Cold Light of Day" will look as bad in 20-odd years as those earlier films look today. OK, this film is somewhat better production values-wise (but lighter on the Italians' trademark violence), but it still has that Euro-American co-production 'el cheapo' look to it.

Nonetheless, it is, as my review heading states, quite entertaining. It plods along amiably enough for much of its length until the film's highlight, around 16 minutes from the end: a very well executed and imaginative car chase sequence. It's pretty long, well-shot (as is much of the film, incidentally), includes several creative elements, and is fast-paced and pays off well. It's one of the best car chases this reviewer recalls seeing in quite a while.

I suppose a score of 6 out of 10 is quite generous for a mediocre film such as this, but it does reflect the entertainment value this reviewer enjoyed.

Apparently, the screenwriters had several patterns (incl. the Bourne and Die Hard movies) and wanted to mix them for the basis of something at least as good, but did not succeed: the result is a porridge of this and that and the logic of events and motives is doubtful and inscrutable (e.g. suitcase-related events, a small business becoming a wild hero within half a day, long car chases without any police visible). The ending is also trivial and expected, luckily, the length of the movie is 1,5 hours only. The City of Madrid provides joy of recognition to them who have visited it.

The characters are not well deliberated either and it is astonishing why such great actors Sigourney Weaver and Bruce Willis agreed to star in such a movie... Nevertheless, the are pleasant to watch. The remaining cast, including the main performer Henry Cavill, is nothing special, not catchy at all.

The Cold Light of Day can kill your time, but you can easily avoid it. Even 2012 provided dozens much better action movies.

The film is not bad and not excellent - it straddles the average line sort of. Not to give much away, i was quite surprised by the film on a whole. Every time i watch a Bruce Willis film i expect to see him in the lead role but he was not the star today - i guess Henry Cavill is steadily been built up to become an A-lister (don't forget he is playing Superman in the 'Man if Steel') The script is OK but does need work in certain areas (watch and find out) Sigourney Weaver played an unconvincing baddie and 'unknown'Verónica Echegui character could have been more involving. I could go on and on but i will leave it there.

My score: 6.5/10 which is decent

A guy goes on a vacation with his family and then his family disappears. He spends the rest of the time trying to find them and learns some difficult things about his dad. Comparisons to Bourne Identity are stupid. This is not like Bourne. This guy has no training as a covert agent. He goes through an awful lot of bad stuff trying to find his family.

That being said, Bruce Willis is not in that much of the movie. This is a Henry Cavill movie. And he's pretty darn attractive to watch.

There is a lot of action, lot of shooting, beating up, etc. Crooked government people.

But overall, not a bad movie to watch!! If you wanted to see Bourne, go watch that movie!

Ok it's not a work of art but once things get going this movie is tense and doesn't let up until the end. The acting is solid aside from Sigourney Weaver who was a miscast in my opinion. Lines were all flat except for one. Henry Cavill is great as the lead, with emotions and intensity that make sense given the situation. Bruce Willis is convincing and the rest of the cast all put in good performances. If you're a fan of car chases, the finale of this delivers a long one.

Everything else worked with solid cinematography. There aren't a bunch of quick shots where you can't tell what's happening. The action scenes benefit the most from this and there's no CGI that I could see. It's an entertaining thriller/action flick that doesn't cheat with what it's delivering.