What a waste of my time!!!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Satisfying Neo-Noir with all the Psychological Aberrations, multiple Betrayals, and assorted Sociopaths, that We have come to know in the World of Noir, are on full Display in this Above Average Foray. Yes, it is Formulaic, but True to its Roots, as is Essential in any and all Good Genre Entries in any Category. A Troubled Release for this Film and the associated, not fully understood, Career Change for David Caruso and his Mysterious Inability to get Work, made this Film not fully Appreciated. Fans of Film-Noir and it's modern Grand-Child Neo-Noir could expect no less from this Movie. Could stand beside John Dahl's early work like Red Rock West (1993) and Kill Me Again (1998).

Sometimes in the middle of the night HBO airs good movies that keep me intrigued throughout. This was the case with Cold Around the Heart, which I caught recently starring Kelly Lynch, David Caruso, Stacey Dash, and Chris Noth. In summary: Lynch and Caruso are partners-in-crime, but a job they pull goes terribly wrong and Caruso ends up taking the fall for three murders he did not commit. Lynch escapes and has a tryst with Noth. Meanwhile, Caruso bolts from the police and meets Dash and they eventually become friends. There are so many twists and turns in this one leading up to the explosive climax. Set in the dusty deserts of Arizona, this flick has all the right ingredients for a great crime thriller. All four actors shine here. I dug it.

Ned Tash and girlfriend Jude Law (no, really!) are escaping a messy robbery. With the police closing Law pushes Tash from the car and escapes while he is caught. When Tash takes the fall for three murders he didn't do he escapes custody and plans to hunt down and kill Jude. Along the way he picks up hitchhiker Bec and together they go cross country to find Jude. Double cross and betrayal is never far away.The film opens with a betrayal after a messy robbery – and it never gets to rise above that cliché. The story is very sedentary and never gets any tension or excitement. The story moves very slowly – things happen but they are not surprising or interesting, leaving you cold, detached from the story. The script is full of cliché and pure laziness – Tash's escape from custody is too easy and things like buying a car etc are just glossed over. Betray and double crosses are good things when done well – here they fail to spark even slight interest.The performances are poor considering the cast. I love Caruso – he's made bad movie choices but he's still one of my favourite actors. Here he does his usual `cocked head, menacing tone but honest guy' act that he's done since it hit in NYPD Blue, but he doesn't bring any depth to Ned – failing to show us when he can't shake Jude off. Being stuck with that stupid haircut probably didn't help. Likewise Lynch didn't seem up to the job of playing Jude……and yes, someone did decide to call her Jude Law despite the famous namesake! Stacey Dash (Clueless) is very sexy – but her dull narration at the start sets a poor tone, she does OK but again her character is a cardboard cut out. Cameos from the excellent John Spencer (West Wing) and the goofy Richard Kind (Spin City) help by being interesting – but they aren't in it long enough to be save the film.It's a shame because the cast deserved better. But the script is poor and cliched and the story is delivered as flat and lifelessly as it can be. A real disappointment that fails to grip.

If you are a fan of modern film noir attempts, this will be worth a look. There are enough plot twists to make it fun to guess if the last one you've seen is indeed the last. The characters are appropriately selfish and dark and there are moments of inventive dialog, though much of it is fairly straight forward.David Caruso does his patented "I'm going to look you right in the eye and tell you exactly how things are" bit several times. Kelly Lynch does her patented "Don't I look hot in sunglasses?" bit several times. These were pluses for me, may be minuses for others.Overall 6-7 out of 10.