Review of Cold Comes the Night (2013) by Jesse O — 22 Mar 2014

Certainly not as bad as I was expecting it to be given the reviews, but not nearly as good as its two leads are. These are A-list actors in a B-list film. But, they make it more watchable than it probably would've been otherwise.

The problem is that the script is as lazy as it is predictable and this just feels like a midnight movie that you'd watch on your local channel. It's certainly not as laughable as some of those very cheap noir/thrillers, because at least this has some really talented leads.

But this is just a step above that thankfully and, again, it's all thanks to Alice Eve and Bryan Cranston. Really, the only reason I even BOTHERED watching this movie is because of Bryan Cranston.

If you know me personally, then you know that Breaking Bad is, quite possibly, my favorite drama series of all time and Bryan Cranston is a huge part of that love affair, so I was really intrigued because, outside of the Total Recall remake, which really wasted his talents, and Drive, which he was tremendous in, he hasn't appeared in a lot of movies.

And this is his first post-Breaking Bad film, at least it was released in North America after BB ended its incredible run. So I was more curious about how he'd do here more than I was actually interested in the film.

He does great here, but the role isn't particularly meaty. As it relates to complexity, which is what made his acting in BB so strong, the fact that the character had depth and how he slowly becomes the villain of the series and how your sympathies shift throughout the series onto another character.

This film doesn't really give him that much to chew on and that much to develop, but he's still quite good here. And Alice Eve is always good, so the leads are definitely the only reason you should bother with this.

The rest is cliched, poorly written, and not particularly interesting. Even then, I can't say that this is a solid rental because, even if the leads are good, nothing else is and it's a shame.

I don't think this film ever had a chance to be great, but it could've been at least a good, solid rental. It definitely fails at that and don't be surprised to see this airing at midnight on your local TV channel within the next year or two.