Coldblooded

Take one very introverted bookmaker and transform him into a highly successful hit-man. Now add an attractive yoga instructor to the mix and you have a talented killer in love. Though he clearly enjoys his work, he has no clue about relationships. This off-beat scenario easily drives "Cold Blooded" into black comedy territory. With sharp dialog, and fine acting from Jason Priestly, Kimberly Williams, Peter Riegert, and Robert Loggia, this is a must see for admirers of dark humor. The clever script is never boring, but is unpredictable and charming in a perverse sort of way. There is no DVD, but I highly recommend seeking out a VHS copy. - MERK

I went to see this at the Seattle International Film Festival in 1995. I went because the synopsis sounded interesting. Plus the guy who had written and directed it was connected with the Simpsons, surely a major plus when it comes to comedy. The audience was filled with teenage girls, obviously drawn by the name of Jason Priestly on the marquee. It made the subsequent viewing of the film THAT much funnier (well, at least to me) to sit there and wonder what these girls were thinking as the film progressed and Priestly started killing folks with such wonderful deadpan indifference. This movie is incredibly funny. Peter Reigert is top-flight comedy gold in every scene he has as the burned-out veteran hit-man but the real revelation is how funny Jason Priestly can be when given a chance. His character here is almost like Peter Sellers from BEING THERE; he is so impassive and deadpan, yet the film revolves around his performance and it must be good for a film like this to work; well, Priestly delivers. His character is goofy and sweet and yet somehow chilling too in his casual attitude to murder. Why this film has languished in total obscurity is a mystery. When i saw the film, most of the audience didn't know what to think; the teenage girlies were rather shocked;they didn't find it amusing to see their 90210 heartthrob pistol-whipping people before icing them, but I did. When the film ended, the director, Wallace Wolodarsky, was just sitting there, alone.He had introduced the film briefly beforehand and said he'd be happy to field questions when it was over. I approached him (since no one else was going to) and I think I frightened him a bit with my exuberance; I had a shaved head at the time and i looked a bit weird and I said, too loudly, "That movie was brilliant! It was hilarious!" He said,"Thank you," and slowly backed away from me. I thought, "Well, you can't win them all." And I left him in the theater filled with people who didn't understand his movie.

This is one of those films that i catch by accident on TV while eating a dinner, and that immediately raise my eyebrows, set up a big question-mark above my head, make me forget about how good dinner i cooked, and instead make me immediately look up the title on IMDb while first set of commercials is on.

First i see a face from sugary Beverly Hills in a _very_ different role, and he seems to be a hit-man (i didn't see the beginning of the movie), but he goes to yoga classes, and he seems to be at once simple and honest (and a virgin), and a successful professional killer, and the movie seems to somehow balance the opposites quite skillfully. Really, i can still feel my eyebrows up there where they were for the most of the movie.

I laughed hard in few places, but like with best films, those funniest scenes had absolutely nothing obviously funny in them... it's the absurdness of the characters and their situations that makes those so funny.

Still, i didn't feel this to be a comedy at all, it's here that saw people call it a dark comedy.

Well, it's dark alright, and strangely uncomfortable, but i did laugh hard in some scenes so i guess it qualifies as comedy too.

Anyway, if you like quirky off-the-beaten-path films, this is one you won't regret seeing.

With so many over-hyped major releases of recent years proving to be bitter disappointments, it's a real treat when I get to watch an older, lesser-known film with no expectations and am blown away by what I see. Director Wallace Wolodarsky's Coldblooded is such a film.

Jason Priestley (of Beverley Hills 90210 fame) plays Cosmo, a socially inept loner working as a bookie for an organised crime syndicate, who unwillingly becomes a hit-man when his gangster boss makes him an offer he can't refuse. After being sent to work alongside seasoned gunman Steve (Peter Riegert), in order to learn the ropes, Cosmo discovers that he is a natural when it comes to dishing out death.

Completely ruthless, quick thinking, and a great shot, he takes to the job like a duck to water, but also finds that wasting people for a living is rather stressful. In order to try and relax, he begins yoga, and soon falls for the pretty teacher who takes his class. But is it possible for him to continue in his line of work and be in love at the same time?

A quirky blend of dark humour and extreme violence, Coldblooded is a delight from start to finish. Priestly excels as Cosmo, a character that you cannot help but like, despite his monstrous ability to shoot complete strangers without skipping a heartbeat. The young killer's deadpan expression and bizarre mannerisms suggest that his mind functions in a manner different to most—his perception of right and wrong is certainly severely distorted—and whilst this doesn't excuse the fact that he is a brutal murderer, it makes his actions little easier to understand and, perhaps, even forgive.

The smart script, also by Wolodarsky, brims with offbeat moments, great incidental characters, and inky black comedy, and his talented cast (which includes great turns by Robert Loggia, as Cosmo's boss, and Kimberly Williams as his girlfriend, plus fine cameos from Janeane Garofolo and Michael J. Fox) don't put a foot wrong, delivering some truly excellent performances.

If you too are weary of overblown summer blockbusters that don't live up to the hype, track down this little gem of a movie to be reminded how good cinema can be when it's done right.

I watched this film at an obscenely late hour the other night, and it was like a breath of fresh-air. As soon as I saw Jason Priestly, I assumed it would be one of those terrible straight to TV movies that involved a cast of C-list celebrities wondering what on earth they were doing making such rubbish.

Not so. As the film progressed I realised, to my utter surprise, that I was actually really enjoying it. The dialogue was funny, the characters interesting and the ending inspired. Priestly was excellent, only ever achieveing such dizzy acting heights in another quirky classic, 'Love and Death on Long Island', and the supporting cast were genuinely talented.

It wasn't perfect; it could have been longer, but it definietly had all the assets of a cult movie.