Director: Tze Chun
Writer: Tze Chun, Oz Perkins, Nick Simon (Screenplay)
Starring: Alice Eve, Logan Marshall-Green, Bryan Cranston, Ursula Parker, Sarah Sokolovic, Robin Lord Taylor
Plot: A struggling motel owner and her daughter are taken hostage by a nearly blind career criminal to be his eyes as he attempts to retrieve his cash package from a crooked cop.
Tagline – Sometimes the fight of your life comes in the dead of night.
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Slow Moving Crime Story
Story: Cold Comes the Night starts as we see struggling to make ends meet motel owner Chloe (Eve) who has been trying to raise her daughter against the states wishes in this location, her motel attracts the usual lowlifes that include drug dealers and prostitutes. When a mysterious criminal Topo (Cranston) is passing through, an incident happens inside the motel.
Topo sees his driver killed, now he wants his car back and is using Chloe to get the information about his car, which will see him hold her hostage waiting for her connection Billy (Marshall-Green) to get the car back, using this as her chance to get out of the troubles she has been facing.
Thoughts on Cold Comes the Night
Characters – Chloe is the motel owner that has been doing everything he can to make guest welcome and keep her daughter with a roof over her head, this doesn’t always happen with certain guests making her life difficult, social service worker wants take her daughter away and after a double murder on the premises, she gets forced into helping a criminal get their money back, hoping it would help get her out of problems she is facing. Topo is the mule that is just passing through town, he stays in the motel only to see his package go missing, needing to use Chloe to get it for him, he is a perfect shot despite being nearly blind, he was once the best man for the job too before stepping away before this latest job. Billy is a local cop that has been watching over and using the motel for his own benefits, he takes the money making him one the pair are trying to track down, but his greed is what will force him to make the worst decisions. Sophia is the daughter that does see her mum protect her from the world as much as she can.
Performances – Alice Eve and Logan Marshall-Green are both strong enough in their roles through the film, they don’t get reach the full levels of other performers. Bryan Cranston is the true star of the show here, making his character as calmly calculated as you would imagine.
Story – The story here follows a woman that has been struggling to make ends meet, who runs a motel and finds herself in the middle of a criminal incident that could help her escape this life she has for her daughter. This is a story that does keep everything the simple with how it unfolds, which doesn’t take too long to get going, while it does just follow the routine you would expect. It does pose the question of why somebody who does keep a roof over their daughters head, with food on the table would be getting investigated by the social services.
Crime – The crime side of film starts with a murder, which soon sees people trying to keep money for themselves or getting a job complete.
Settings – The film is set in Greene County New York, which shows that outside the big city life can be a lot tougher for the people trying to survive there.
Scene of the Movie – Topo’s perfect shot.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is too safe with how the story unfolds.
Final Thoughts – This is a simple crime film, it doesn’t reach any of the levels of intensity that it could, while just getting the basics done easily.
Overall: Simple all along.
