The Cold Light of Day

Not having seen the original (In Broad Daylight, if I'm not mistaken), I viewed this film without preexisting expectations and loved it. It's very suspenseful without using formulaic devices and had a really rich pace and rhythm. The characters are very real and three-dimensional and Richard E. Grant gives a wonderful performance (as always, IMHO). I tend to enjoy films that feature character actors in leading roles. They don't have the off-screen persona that tends to overwhelm character portrayal as sometimes happens with conventional leading men and ladies. Sorry about the digression. If you like suspense-thrillers that are intense without displaying a great deal of frenzied action, you'll like this movie.

In the countryside of an Eastern Europe country, three little girls are murdered in the wood by a pedophile and found naked with one precise cut on the throat. Detective Viktor Marek (Richard E. Grant), who has come from the city, investigates the case, but his superior Pavel Nowak (James Laurenson) arrests a scapegoat, the pothead Alexi Berka (Thom Hoffman), and tortures the youngster to confess the murder since he is disputing the elections. Marek does not agree with the result of the investigation and resigns his job but continues to track the killer. While following a lead in an old road, Marek meets the girl Anna Tatour (Perdita Weeks) that has a flat tire of her bicycle and he offers a ride in his car to the girl. Then, he tells to Anna's mother, Milena Tatour (Lynsey Baxter), that she should instruct her daughter to not accept ride from strangers.

Marek becomes obsessed to hunt down the pedophile and he decides to rent an old gas station in the old road near to the place where the crimes where committed to see the cars that use the road and he invites Milena to cook for him with the intention of secretly using Anna as a bait. Meanwhile the killer is the disturbed pediatrician Vladimir Kozant (Simon Cadell), who puts his eyes on Anna while refueling in the gas station. But Marek has fallen in love with Milena and Anna and he decides to call-off his investigation.

"The Cold Light of Day" is a great thriller with murder, pedophilia and obsession. Viktor Marek is an interesting character that becomes obsessed to accomplish his promise to the parents of a victim and changes his life expecting to catch the killer. Anna is a beautiful character, pure and traumatized by her past. In the end, "The Cold Light of Day" is a thriller recommended for viewers that want to see a different and quite unknown movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Isca Mortal" ("Mortal Bait")

Less satisfying than "Silence of the Lambs," but nevertheless haunting, suspenseful, and worth a rental. It was one of those that stayed with me.

At heart, it is the psychological study of an ex-cop (Grant)trying to balance two opposing aspects: his compulsion to apprehend a child killer and his growing love for a woman (Baxter) and her young daughter (Weeks). The struggle forces him to confront his own limitations, the denial of which leads to the climax and possible tragedy. This is paralleled by Baxter's convincing portrayal of a mother vacillating between suspicion and trust, fear and love.

The film subtly but effectively sexualizes the daughter to give us glimpse of childhood through the psychopath's eyes, a technique which sharpens and crystallizes both the plot and mood. Unfortunately, the psychological study of the killer, though ample, seems week and would have benefited from more attention by the writer.

A recently finished cop sets out to catch a child killer, using a very dubios and dangerous means.

I rather enjoyed this, it's a good solid thriller, with some good characters, and really fine acting.

Richard E Grant is excellent, as always as the troubled Detective, Simon Cadell is excellent as the criminal, I had no idea he appeared in films such as this, having been so used to watching him in Hi-de-hi.

There are a few plot holes, I don't think anyone could argue with that, would he really have taken such a drastic course of action, in such a secluded place. I'm not too sure, but it does add to the drama.

The ending is very good, and dramatic.

Enjoyable, 7/10.

This was a fairly interesting story but I didn't like the lead actor, Richard Grant, who played "Victor Marek." It's about a British cop ("Marek") trying to trap a sick child killer, and at the same time his mind is on a woman and her kid. He winds up using them as bait to get the killer. In doing so, he lost me.

He wasn't a "good guy," himself and certainly not a likable person that we are supposed to root for in the film. Even Richard Grant's looks in here (tell me that wasn't eyeliner on him) were annoying.

The best part of the film was the cinematography. This was a nice-looking film on VHS and it's too bad it isn't available on DVD. I wouldn't buy it, but I might rent it to catch the good photography.