Film Review – The Cold Light of Day

With Harrison Ford now pushing 70 and unable to pursue abductors with the dynamism of bygone days, and a fifty-something Bruce Willis not really rocking the torn white vest look so much, the baton of saving your family from kidnappers must pass to a new generation of actors. Step forward Henry Cavill, who does the honors in this shaky action thriller. Cavill looks like he can’t decide whether he should be on the catwalk or the track, and the latter advantage is fortunate as much athleticism is needed when one is required to outrun half the Madrid police force – including those members of it in cars and on horses. But it’s all in a day’s work when one’s nearest and dearest are being held hostage by terrorists.

Debbie Stowe

It all started out as a pleasant family holiday on a yacht in Spain. (Well, pleasantish – dad Bruce Willis is a bit tetchy for some reason.) From Dead Calm to Donkey Punch and Adrift, yacht excursions don’t tend to go well in movies. Little surprise, then, that after a brief trip into town Henry returns to the boat to find his loved ones have vanished. Of course the local police are no help whatsoever – as Henry would have known had he watched Frantic, or Gone, or Taken, or any other kidnapping film.

So an untrained twenty-something must single-handedly take on Mossad, corrupt CIA spooks and the Spanish police to rescue his family. Actually, not quite single-handedly: as he sprints around Madrid he manages to acquire an attractive mini-skirted sidekick who conveniently is also athletic and owns a motorbike. As often seems to happen, retrieving relatives from the clutches of kidnappers requires visiting a nightclub, which ups the young, good-looking people quotient even further.

The film shows early promise, with stars such as Willis and Sigourney Weaver as a dubious CIA high-up, and the atmospheric maritime beginning. But it rapidly evaporates, as The Cold Light of Day degenerates into a derivative, implausible and confusing potboiler. The first two of those sins are forgivable if the film has enough panache. Unfortunately it doesn’t, and Willis’s presence just serves as a reminder of the far superior action thrillers he has graced (the Die Hards, of course, but even lesser outings such as Hostage).

Read more about

Alexandrion Group is looking for a suitable location in Japan to build a distillery that will produce Japanese single malt whisky

read more

Modest compensation comes in the form of the action sequences, which are competently enough dispatched, and at just over 90 minutes proceedings are taut. The sun-soaked Madrid setting also provides an appealing backdrop. But overall Willis and Weaver are wasted on this sub-par effort, whose ingredients could have added up at least to an effective and gripping actioner. What instead emerged ought not to have seen the cold light of day at all, and its reception is likely to be as cool as the title.

debbie.stowe@business-review.ro

Director: Mabrouk El Mechri

Starring: Henry Cavill, Bruce Willis, Sigourney Weaver

On: Cinema City Cotroceni & Sun Plaza, Corso, Glendale Studio, Grand Cinema Digiplex Baneasa, Hollywood Multiplex, Movieplex Cinema, The Light Cinema