Cold Comfort

Marvelous and utterly unique filmed play with Maury Chaykin starring and kicking. In the midst of a vicious blizzard in friendly Manitoba Floyd Lucas takes his illegal tow truck out and...steals himself a man. Actually, he steals his daughter a man. It's her eighteenth birthday and we are led to believe that she is a virgin. The father and daughter pair imprison the travelling salesman; she: determined to seduce him and he: determined to kill him.

Remember the old joke about a traveling salesman and the farmer's daughter? Well, this Canadian movie kind of takes the basic premise of that joke and manages to somehow combine it with Stephen King's "Misery" (this movie came out after the novel, but before the official film adaptation). Amazingly though, the whole thing kind of works because it is well-filmed and well-acted, especially by journeyman Canadian character actor Maury Chaykin.

A traveling salesman (Paul Gross) goes off the road in a storm. He is rescued by a weird tow-truck driver (i.e. not actually a farmer) played by Maury Chaykin. The tow-truck driver takes him to his isolated snowbound home where he strangely wants him to be a "birthday present" for his 18-year-old daughter (Margaret Langrick, who had previously appeared as the daughter in the family bigfoot comedy "Harry and the Hendersons"). This, of course, is every traveling salesman's worst nightmare! But the movie ultimately doesn't try for out-and-out horror (which would have immediately turned to camp), but neither is this some "erotic thriller" sex fantasy. Instead it's something more unusual--a very eccentric three character drama. Chaykin is a pretty scary and a very unpredictable character, so it's completely believable that the salesman would have no idea what to do when the daughter starts doing a striptease for him at her birthday party while her drunken father hoots and shines a bright flashlight alternately on her and on him as he watches!

This movie may sound like a sex fantasy turned nightmare (kind of like the 70's exploitation film "Death Game"), but that's not quite accurate. It's more like a sex fantasy suddenly turned real in such a strange, unexpected way that the whole fantasy element is lost and the beleaguered protagonist really has NO IDEA how to react. There is a kind of nightmare element in that the protagonist is injured and held prisoner, but it's not the usual psycho thing. It's a pretty interesting movie actually. Gross is pretty good. Langrick is also good (and has nude scenes). But the best thing here is Chaykin who went on to do some interesting stuff, mostly in Canada, for directors like Atom Egoyan ("The Adjustor", "The Sweet Hereafter"). See this if you have the opportunity.

First of all, this film is set in Alberta near Medicine Hat, not Manitoba or Alaska.

I first saw this film in 1990, before "Misery", before "Due South", and I thought it was great. The suspense builds in a natural way as you see Steven get deeper and deeper into trouble and come to realize the kind of person Floyd is.

Great drama, excellent acting. The scene where Steven freaks out on Floyd is some of the most believable anger I've ever seen in a flick.

If you're in the market for a Misery rip-off with uninteresting characters, massive overacting and a complete flop of an ending, this might be the movie for you.

Otherwise, give it a miss. 3/10

Winter cold in rural Manitoba and a cluttered and claustrophobic living space behind a disused service station set the scene for this unnerving Canadian psychological drama. Maury Chaykin is an under-employed independent tow truck driver without a permit and without means to pay his bills. Everyone in town is creeped out by his disconcerting presence. Driving home in a blizzard Chaykin discovers handsome traveling salesman Paul Gross unconscious in a snowy ditch. What at first looks like a misfit playing good Samaritan turns into a twisted tale when the wounded Gross is presented as a gift to 18-year-old Dolores, played with sweet naivete by Margaret Langrick. Gross, at first grateful for his rescue quickly becomes wary of his odd circumstance, never knowing who, if anyone, he can trust. The neglected and immature Langrick tries to turn on a charm trying to woo the captive Gross. Chaykin is never far away - always menacing - and Gross is always on edge trying not to do the wrong thing to set off his demented host. The turning point, as Gross regains his health, is a birthday party for Dolores in the dreary garage, fueled by flirtatious banter and longing looks from Langrick and too much alcohol. When Langrick suddenly appears to perform an impromptu stage show for the two men Gross is confused, wondering about the daughter's innocence and end up reading the father's enthusiasm entirely wrong. Desperation and divided loyalties drive the taut conclusion. This film sticks with you like a winter chill.