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The Cold Light of Day (2011)

Director: Mabrouk El Mechri

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3 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Liam Neeson was the go-to guy for tacky Euro-thrillers about dogged Americans shooting up the Continent in pursuit of vanished family members. But every baton, if not every dodgy subgenre, must be passed, so it’s Superman-in-waiting, Henry Cavill, who gets to shoulder this cheerfully preposterous chase movie about a young Californian whose sunny Mediterranean family holiday is rudely interrupted by inscrutable espionage hijinks.

Sensibly rationing his facial expressions at this early stage in his career, 28-year-old Cavill lacks Neeson’s gruff authority but looks better in a tight T-shirt. For the purposes of ‘JCVD’ director Mabrouk El Mechri’s film, those are equal assets.

Cavill plays Will, reluctantly pulled from business troubles to spend a week with his parents and brother on the family sailing boat in Spain, where his taciturn dad Martin (Bruce Willis) is stationed as a cultural attaché. Struggling to buy Willis as a cultural attaché? Don’t worry, he’s actually a corrupt CIA agent, a truth Will learns the hard way after returning from an errand to find both boat and family missing.

Seems Martin has come between international spies and a mysterious briefcase also wanted by shifty agency boss Sigourney Weaver. Before you can say, or rather sigh, ‘McGuffin’, Martin is shot dead and Will is left in Madrid to puzzle things out alone. Well, not entirely alone: there’s also a newly discovered half-sister (Verónica Echegui), whose assistance is limited to shrieking his name (‘Wheel’, apparently) when things get perilous.

It all boils down to a series of riotously extended showdowns between Cavill and Weaver, who’s phoning it in splendidly here: ‘I’m getting sick of this,’ she mutters venomously, after mowing down an entire town square with her semi-automatic. The actress may be speaking her mind, but she gives this silly potboiler whatever juice it’s got.

Author: Guy Lodge

Time Out London Issue 2172: April 5-11, 2012

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User reviews of this film

Guilaine said...

Posted on Apr 20 2012 12:08 I also did not expect this to be great ...but there nothing exiting at the box office so I kept an open mind. I have to say this one of the most stereotypically and unnecessarily hyped action movie , I have seen this year .Cavill 's performance or lack of , to be exact lacked conviction and charisma to be it midly . But to put it less midly , he sucks , is acting really his day job ? A waste of money .

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Marsellus said...

Posted on Apr 17 2012 11:18 I wasn't expecting this to be amazing but I was still extremely disappointed. I was checking my watch about 20 minutes in (bad sign!). Cavill was shockingly bad. I'm not sure if he is naturally a bit gimpy or if he was 'acting' gimpy but either way, it's not good if the viewer is wishing the hero would die because he's so annoying (constantly whining). And what is with the way he runs (like Alan Partridge running across hot coals). Don't waste your money on this. Buy a ticket to Battleship instead. At least that is dumb AND fun. This film is just dumb.

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scrumpyjack said...

Posted on Apr 12 2012 16:26 The bare minimum (bar a few impressive bits) you need for a watch and forget friday night flick, though, sadly, as it's no more than a 2 for 1 type deal (if seen all else) then it must, at best, become a wed night flick! 6/10

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