The Cold Light of Day

Well I wasn't expecting much from this film to begin with and I certainly wasn't wrong with how the film panned out. When I arrived in the theatre there was background music playing over the trailers and adverts. This even continued into the start of the film! Therefore I couldn't actually hear what was going on for the first 3 or 4 minutes. I should have known what my experience was going to be like after that. I thought the film had a promising start with Willis being about the only semblance of my enjoyment. But it all went downhill after the first 25 minutes or so. I thought the script was dire and the action sequences were poorly directed. In some of the scenes I could plainly tell an effort was being made by the director to imitate some classic action scenes in the Bourne series. The whole business with the briefcase also left a lot to be desired.

Weaver's performance was puzzling. She appears as a ruthless agency operative but at points in the film I was wondering if she thought she was starring in a comedy with her outrageous behaviour in some of the end scenes. Overall I'd say save your money for a better film that doesn't try to rip off other films in its genre.

"In the Cold Light of Day" is no "Bourne Identity". It has something of a made-for-TV look to it. At one point while watching, I was reminded of the 80s action/espionage type films sometimes directed by the likes of Lucio Fulci (Contraband, 1980) or Ruggero Deodato (Cut & Run, 1985). I suspect "In the Cold Light of Day" will look as bad in 20-odd years as those earlier films look today. OK, this film is somewhat better production values-wise (but lighter on the Italians' trademark violence), but it still has that Euro-American co-production 'el cheapo' look to it.

Nonetheless, it is, as my review heading states, quite entertaining. It plods along amiably enough for much of its length until the film's highlight, around 16 minutes from the end: a very well executed and imaginative car chase sequence. It's pretty long, well-shot (as is much of the film, incidentally), includes several creative elements, and is fast-paced and pays off well. It's one of the best car chases this reviewer recalls seeing in quite a while.

I suppose a score of 6 out of 10 is quite generous for a mediocre film such as this, but it does reflect the entertainment value this reviewer enjoyed.

A guy goes on a vacation with his family and then his family disappears. He spends the rest of the time trying to find them and learns some difficult things about his dad. Comparisons to Bourne Identity are stupid. This is not like Bourne. This guy has no training as a covert agent. He goes through an awful lot of bad stuff trying to find his family.

That being said, Bruce Willis is not in that much of the movie. This is a Henry Cavill movie. And he's pretty darn attractive to watch.

There is a lot of action, lot of shooting, beating up, etc. Crooked government people.

But overall, not a bad movie to watch!! If you wanted to see Bourne, go watch that movie!

This movie was not a classic spy-thriller by any means, but it was still fun to watch.

There were a variety of weak plot points that took away dramatically from the film. The worst of which was that in the film Bruce Willis' cellphone was totally unlocked (no password or encryption of any kind to access all features) --- this for an average phone owner would be rare, but for a long-time CIA operative would NEVER be the case. Given that accessing the phone was critical to progress of the story-line this should not have been overlooked.

The story line is pathetic and weak, with nonsensical script and a very basic lead actor. Sad to see some great 90's actors scraping the barrel. Sorry to be so harsh.