MOVIE - COLD CREEK MANOR - Review Rating $$$$ (OUT OF 10)
STARRING - Dennis Quaid (Cooper Tilson), Sharon Stone (Leah Tilson), Stephen Dorff (Dale Massie), Juliette Lewis (Ruby), Dana Eskelson (Sheriff) & Christopher Plummer (Mr. Massie).
DIRECTOR - Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas, Time Code, Internal Affairs, One Night Stand & The Loss of Sexual Innocence)
You can often tell a lot, about how good a movie is going to be, by the opening scene. It will take you less than five minutes to come to the conclusion that Cold Creek Manor, despite an excellent cast, is going to be a waste of your hard earned money and precious time.
The movie starts with Mrs. Tilson (Stone) agreeing to sleep with her boss. Cut to the earnest while Mr. Tilson (Quaid) dropping the kids off at school. This process takes about three minutes because the kids are talking to Mom on the cell phone. The whole time, and I mean the whole time, the driver of the SUV stuck behind them is venting his road rage by incessantly honking his horn. When Mom finally says good-bye the son, inexplicably, decides to run into the street at the same moment Mr. Road Rage pulls around Mr. Tilson at full speed. Even more inexplicably, the inevitable collision between child and massive vehicle produces no discernible injuries.
This scene, which establishes the entire premise of the movie, is so overwrought that even the steam rising from the city streets doesn't seem realistic. The rest of the movie doesn't get any better or more subtle than this. Indeed, just to make sure we're aware of future tense moments, ominously loud scary music blares through the speakers at the appropriate times. An overwhelming soundtrack can't compensate for the weakness of Cold Creek Manor's plot.
The marital discord, introduced in the first moments of the film, doesn't get dealt with again until about the hour and a half mark. When the subject comes up we've almost completely forgotten about it. Apparently, so have the screenwriters, because except for giving them credit for tying up loose ends the one minute conversation about the issue is tad inadequate. Luckily, for the Tilson's, the multiple murderer stalking them provides this marriage with a bonding experience sufficient enough to reaffirm their true love (and yes, I am being sarcastic).
Just in case your thinking I'm being a bit harsh I can tell you that the "scary" moments in the film produced laughter in the audience I watched Cold Creek Manor with. When the film ended, I overheard another patron exclaim, "Thank God its over".
Enough said, consider yourself warned.
Running time - 118 minutes
Check out my TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2003 & WORST MOVIES OF 2003 lists.
Alternative Reviews:
Roger Ebert's Review
Rotten Tomatoes Reviews
Peter Travers / Rolling Stone Review
Private Joker's Review
Cold Creek Manor Official Web Site
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2005
David Schwartz.
Last update:
2/28/05; 1:47:49 AM.
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