Cold Steel

Brad Davis plays a cop here tracking down his fathers killer, and on occasion has various encounters with defiant vending machines. Jonathan Banks shows his versatility by giving the same dry performance were all accustomed to, despite an unusual vocal disposition. Oh, and then there's Sharon Stone,…no surprises here. Director Puzo tries to show some visual flair with gravity defying slow-motion car jump's, a la' Blues Brothers, and it comes off just as silly. The films sports cliché' locations and situations, routine acting, and the occasional twist here and there, but really, nothing ever leaves the realm of the status quo. Even the off-casting of Adam Ant couldn't help rise this mediocre entry above it's ilk.

Police detective Johnny Modine (Brad Davis) gets a bad Christmas surprise. His father opens his store to Dorian "Mick" Michael Duran (Adam Ant) and gets killed by Isaac "Iceman" (Jonathan Banks). One night, Kathy Connors (Sharon Stone) shows up in the cop bar and starts talking to Johnny. As he investigates, he finds a group of men with a vendetta against him.

Once upon a time, Brad Davis was a rising star, but he never got to A-list status. In this one, he's trying very hard and maybe too hard. Everything in the movie is a little over the top and not well done. It does have some interesting side characters including Sharon Stone as the femme fatale. According to the movie posters, she is the big selling point. It also has Jonathan freaking Banks and Adam Ant. Banks is a legend and Adam Ant is a forgotten name from the 80's. The vending machine gag is not funny and they repeat it. The movie keeps trying for comedy and it rarely works. They do like their car stunts and it's fun to see all the cars flipping around in the air. This is a poor action movie, but it does have a couple of fun scenes.

One Christmas Eve, a tough Los Angeles cop learns that his father has been brutally murdered. You're probably guessing that he swears revenge. In actual fact, it's kind of hard to conclude whether he does so or not, because for the next thirty or so minutes of the movie, he does NOTHING in the way of investigation. When he does decide more or less to take care of business, he really doesn't have to do that much thinking - the clues as to who was behind his father's murder and why are pretty much handed to him on a silver platter. It's hard to believe that this movie actually got a theatrical release. It's pretty cheap, badly shot, but worst of all, except for a few okay motor vehicle stunts, it's extremely boring. Even Sharon Stone's nude scene is a big yawn. The production company (Cinetel Films) went on to make even cheaper and cruder movies.

Well, this one left me rather bemused. A L. A based neo noir that's a mess of a film, in regard to good and bad aspects. When it's on, it's on, but there are moments where it can labour and the tone feels totally off. And I think the script with its forced dramas and varied performances play a large part to contributing to it.

LAPD detective Johnny Modine becomes a loose cannon, after the death of his father in a robbery. Wanting justice, he soon discovers the killing was anything but random, as his past is coming back to bite him.

Brad Davis as our lead. Is bland, and never all that convincing, looking very much out of his league... especially when the story asks a little more from him. At times looking like he raided William Peterson's Manhunter wardrobe. To be honest, he can be awkward. Though he's not alone. Sharon Stone is no better, with a rather stiff turn. The chemistry between the two, was non-existent. But then you got the likes of Johnathan Banks and Adam Ant. The villains of the piece. Quite a colorful duo, and playing it up compared to Davis and Stone. Banks really had a threatening and somewhat unhinged presence, to go along with his electrolarynx (robotic voice box). While Ant was the less uptight character. Whenever these two were on screen, my interest was piqued. Sy Richardson (Repo Man) was the third wheel.

The story stayed simple. Cat and mouse games driven by a hunger for revenge. Though it felt, especially early on, the central premise would get sidetracked or focus on irregular scenes longer than needed. Example the running gag involving a vending machine. Still when it comes to the third act it throws out a plot twist involving Stone's character, which is easily foreseeable. It doesn't really add much in the way of suspense... probably in a way cheapens it and rids any sense of unplanned danger. But it does go on to deliver an over-the-top climatic showdown and stunt-work involving fire, in which that one moment Stone makes up for her languid performance.

Interestingly it was the one and only feature by director Dorothy Ann Puzo. Yep, the daughter of Mario Puzo. It's actually well-shot, LA locations come through and there are decent action scenes, some nasty/bloody encounters and an obligatory car chase with some impressive stunt work. Technically all round competent. So I can't help but feel she was let down by the writing and a few of the performances.

Adam Ant rocked. He always does. Sharon Stone played Sharon Stone (I forgive her for her poor acting, the part was *horridly* written. She deserved better.) Jonathan Banks was fairly good as the evil Iceman (who comes up with these names??), but with better writing he would have been far more impressive. Bad writing sums this film up. And Brad Davis' flat acting and monotonous character didn't help the matter much. There were some really amusing scenes (including the battle with the drinks machine, and the bad fish episode;), and some really fun artillery. And of course, the red-blooded male in me enjoyed seeing the lovely Sharon Stone baring all in her pre-gravity days. But it wasn't enough to save this second-rate CHiPs wannabe. 4/10.