Cold Around the Heart

Satisfying Neo-Noir with all the Psychological Aberrations, multiple Betrayals, and assorted Sociopaths, that We have come to know in the World of Noir, are on full Display in this Above Average Foray. Yes, it is Formulaic, but True to its Roots, as is Essential in any and all Good Genre Entries in any Category.

A Troubled Release for this Film and the associated, not fully understood, Career Change for David Caruso and his Mysterious Inability to get Work, made this Film not fully Appreciated. Fans of Film-Noir and it's modern Grand-Child Neo-Noir could expect no less from this Movie.

Could stand beside John Dahl's early work like Red Rock West (1993) and Kill Me Again (1998).

Ned Tash and girlfriend Jude Law (no, really!) are escaping a messy robbery. With the police closing Law pushes Tash from the car and escapes while he is caught. When Tash takes the fall for three murders he didn't do he escapes custody and plans to hunt down and kill Jude. Along the way he picks up hitchhiker Bec and together they go cross country to find Jude. Double cross and betrayal is never far away.

The film opens with a betrayal after a messy robbery – and it never gets to rise above that cliché. The story is very sedentary and never gets any tension or excitement. The story moves very slowly – things happen but they are not surprising or interesting, leaving you cold, detached from the story. The script is full of cliché and pure laziness – Tash's escape from custody is too easy and things like buying a car etc are just glossed over. Betray and double crosses are good things when done well – here they fail to spark even slight interest.

The performances are poor considering the cast. I love Caruso – he's made bad movie choices but he's still one of my favourite actors. Here he does his usual `cocked head, menacing tone but honest guy' act that he's done since it hit in NYPD Blue, but he doesn't bring any depth to Ned – failing to show us when he can't shake Jude off. Being stuck with that stupid haircut probably didn't help. Likewise Lynch didn't seem up to the job of playing Jude……and yes, someone did decide to call her Jude Law despite the famous namesake! Stacey Dash (Clueless) is very sexy – but her dull narration at the start sets a poor tone, she does OK but again her character is a cardboard cut out. Cameos from the excellent John Spencer (West Wing) and the goofy Richard Kind (Spin City) help by being interesting – but they aren't in it long enough to be save the film.

It's a shame because the cast deserved better. But the script is poor and cliched and the story is delivered as flat and lifelessly as it can be. A real disappointment that fails to grip.

If you are a fan of modern film noir attempts, this will be worth a look. There are enough plot twists to make it fun to guess if the last one you've seen is indeed the last. The characters are appropriately selfish and dark and there are moments of inventive dialog, though much of it is fairly straight forward.

David Caruso does his patented "I'm going to look you right in the eye and tell you exactly how things are" bit several times. Kelly Lynch does her patented "Don't I look hot in sunglasses?" bit several times. These were pluses for me, may be minuses for others.

Overall 6-7 out of 10.

Cold Around the Heart: Very good movie. Had me guessing about who really the trigger man in the holdup was. Who was the one that wasn't playing with a full deck of cards. Would have been nice if they did a flashback of the holdup. I would have picked a different woman to play Jude, but Kelly Lench did an ok job. David did a good job in his part. And Stacey Dash did a great job. I would love to get the movie on dvd or blu ray but can't seem to find it anywhere. So I got it on VUDU. Or should I say Fandango Now. Alot of the good movies are hard to find but they seem to be over seas in other countries. But I really enjoyed the movie and just watched it without trying to pick it apart for faults. Ending was very good.

This is an interesting film with weaknesses and strengths already cited by many. But I'm on the side of good rather than weak.

Cliches abound, but in the context of the characters, perhaps understandable since they're easier to use than real communication. This movie is about virtue versus the "bad seed". Who is and who isn't. The low life quest where everyone is out for themselves continues throughout with twist after twist.

I found it a plus overall, even though some story transitions were puzzling if not far- fetched. I was entertained.