Cold Weather

Cold Weather (2012)

Indie films with their low budgets can turn a couple of basic directions to distinguish themselves. One is sheer inventiveness or surprise. The other is low key realism making ordinary people seem relatable, and that is where this movie goes. There are dozens of these, often with young casts appealing to the twenty-something generation somewhere between college and career.

So we have a young man, Doug, living with his sister in Portland just as he finds a job in an ice factory. And then his ex-girlfriend arrives in town on business, and they see each other as old friends. The fourth character is a co-worker at the factory who befriends Doug and falls for the ex-girlfriend. And we see the basis of a relationship drama, not quite a romantic movie but not a serious probing drama, either.

But then the movie turns abruptly, and the comic aspects get interwoven with an apparent crime that these amateur Sherlocks can't quite get their finger on. But their efforts make a great game. It's super low key, and any other movie would hype up the facts with guns and scary soundtrack music and real (or cheesy) fear. Not this kind of Indie film. This is about the people, and the "crime" they are pursuing is a just way to learn more about the protagonists.

Which is pretty fun. The acting holds together pretty well, regular people being regular people without affectation. Easier said than done, but also leaving the audience less to really work with or care about than you'd prefer. By the very end, the last few moments, there is a final realization that's rather sweet and rewarding, and the movie turns back to what it's best at.

See it? If you have an open mind for lower budget but reasonably well made modest movies (known as Indie films), you might just find this one clicks. Within its limitations.

I won't address the story of Cold Weather in detail, because I think the less you know of it, the better. But if you do need story details in advance, I'm sure they're easily found in the movie synopsis or other reviews.  I'd just like to cover a few points about why I liked it. 

First of all, it's pretty awesome how Cold Weather mixes the everyday, mostly uneventful, almost boring lives of their characters with surprising levels of mystery and tension. It's not often the word "realistic" fits a film as aptly as it does this movie. 

Second, I thought it ended much too quickly and abruptly, which is actually a partial compliment. For one, I wasn't ready for it to be over, and it ended in an unexpected and non-formulaic way. 

Third, this was simply one of the freshest movie experiences I've had this  year, and I expect that it will be even better upon subsequent viewings. The closest thing I can think of to compare it to is Winter's Bone. Not because the stories are similar, but because they center around realistic, un-stylized characters that make small, personal events seem more urgent and engrossing than the world-ending, massively bombastic plots of some much bigger films. 

With that said, I definitely think the audience for Cold Weather is more narrow than broad. It's by no means a perfect movie. The plot relies on coincidence after coincidence, and that may be hard for some to swallow. It's also a slow-burner throughout, and that may bore some people. Slow-paced doesn't necessarily mean boring or bad in my opinion, though, so I don't hesitate in giving Cold Weather my approval.

I don't know how people would consider this movie is a good one. The screenplay, the plot, the scenario in all are just too weak and uninteresting. The main male actor is such a wimp with a very unlikable meaty and fleshy face with dumb expression all the time like a retarded person. There is no way any woman would like to start a relationship with this guy. I also wonder why this movie would have to shot in the constant wet weather of Portland, Oregon. The guy read his book back to the light, then slept with lamp still on. The whole movie is just a No Big Deal while trying so hard to make something look big deal out of it. This movie told us that a couple of male dimwits who didn't even know how to deal with their own ordinary daily lives albeit playing private detectives. They both looked so stupid because the dialog of this screenplay made them look just like some worthless losers, no hopes, no ambitions, no nothing. This is a very lame movie with terrible dialog(especially the dialog!), poor acting, poor directing, poor sound tracks. There's nothing worthwhile watching or commentating. By saying so much only proved how frustrating when I watched this lousy movie. Don't waste your time, man.

On one hand, a local guy came back to Portland and made a feature film set in the city I live in and love; he made it on a low budget, wrote it and directed it himself, got it made and *released*! (And Portland looks gorgeous in the film.) This is an impressive achievement any filmmaker should be commended for. Many aspiring filmmakers never get their film finished let alone released.

On the other hand, the film is woefully lacking in basics like character development and an interesting story. Many plot points simply don't ring true or seem plausible; even character interactions seem forced and a bit scripted, giving the audience precious little to relate to or care about in these people; we're almost *begging* for something to latch on to as we watch the film, but there's almost nothing. The dialog is usually wooden and forgettable, and it's hard to see how it advances the story much or helps us understand the relationship between the characters (or makes us laugh). And there's rarely any tension between characters (hint: *conflict* in movies is interesting!).

I get that it wasn't supposed to be a thriller but it isn't effective as a "relationship film" either. Too much "reading between the lines" and "willing suspension of disbelief" is required. "Cold Weather" kind of plods along to an unexpected conclusion, making us wonder what kind of movie it *could* have been. Unfortunately, it compares poorly to similar films made on a low budget by young directors.

'COLD WEATHER': Four Stars (Out of Five)

Director Aaron Katz, who was born in Portland, OR, returned to his hometown to film this mystery / drama / Mumblecore film. Mumblecore is a term used to describe a genre of indie film, that began about a decade ago, that features non-professional actors (usually in their twenties) in extremely low budget productions about relationships with dialogue heavy improvised scripts. Katz's previous feature films ('DANCE PARTY USA' and 'QUIET CITY') were both critically acclaimed Mumblecore films. This one tells the story of a man who moves back to Portland, and into an apartment with his sister, and becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to his ex-girlfriend when she goes missing. It stars Cris Lankenau (who's only other acting credit is Katz's 'QUIET CITY'), Trieste Kelly Dunn, Paul Castillo and Robyn Rikoon. The film is a great example of how much you can do with very little.

Lankenau stars as Doug, a former forensic science student, who drops out of school in Chicago and moves back home to Portland, and in with his sister Gail (Dunn). He gets a job at an ice factory and befriends a co-worker named Carlos (Castillo) who's also a part time DJ. His ex-girlfriend, Rachel (Rikoon), follows him into town on a supposed visit and then goes missing. Doug is a big 'Sherlock Holmes' fan and finally gets a chance to put his fascination and education to the test. He enlists the help of both Carlos and Gail in discovering Rachel's whereabouts. This gives him more of a chance to bond with his estranged sister.

The movie is extremely and very deliberately slow-paced. It's very aimless at times and features several dialogue scenes that do very little to advance the development of the characters and absolutely nothing to propel the story line. It takes a good 37 minutes (of an hour and 37 minute movie) to get to the film's plot. This didn't bother me. While it wasn't exciting or involving it also wasn't boring. Watching this film is no less interesting or entertaining than hanging out with a group of friends, really. When something does finally happen it's worth the wait too. There's no action or sex or anything really fascinating, when you think about it, but it's entertaining all the same. That's thanks in large part to Katz's directing, an extraordinary and memorable score (by Keegan DeWitt, who also worked on Katz's other films) and some great performances. Three of the four leads were all good screen presences I thought. I didn't care much for Rikoon, she did have the smallest part but even when she was on screen she wasn't very interesting. Dunn is beautiful and should have no problem continuing to find film offers, Castillo was very natural and likable and Lankenau was especially good in my opinion. He reminded me a lot of Ryan Reynolds in the way he talked and sounded. He should have no problem finding more work as well. The film is especially impressive when you think about the emotions and interests it provokes by doing almost nothing. I couldn't find a listing of the budget to this film but Katz's previous two films both reportedly cost between 2 and 3 thousand dollars. I can't imagine this one costing much more. All in all I thought the movie was pretty interesting and entertaining. It's sure to bore some while highly amusing others.

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