Load of rubbish!!

Admirable film.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

I assumed from seeing the DVD cover, because of characters wearing Stetsons, that this film was a western, but it didn't matter, I saw good ratings from critics for it, so I gave it a go. Basically set in the 1980s, Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall) and his wife Ann (Vinessa Shaw) are startled in the home in the middle of the night by an intruder who has broken in. Richard is shaken by the experience, as he was starled by a noise and accidentally shot the intruder dead, he is identified as wanted felon Freddy Russell. Richard visits the cemetery on the day of Russell's burial, in his car he is confronted by Ben (Sam Shepard), Freddy's father and a paroled convict, he makes a veiled comment about Richard's son Jordan (Brogan Hall). Alarmed, Richard picks up Jordan from school and tells Ann to meet him at the police station, but the police decline to help, as they do not believe it was a direct threat. However, when the Danes return home, they find the front door has broken in, the police put under their protection, surrounding the house, including a guard inside, hoping to catch Ben when he returns. It turns out that Ben never left and has been hiding in the house's crawlspace, he emerges and knocks out the guard, Richard is alerted noticing water dripping from a ceiling window, the police are alerted and break in, but Ben has already escaped out of the window in Jordan's room. Ben is tracked and eventually apprehended in Mexico, Richard is invited to the station to close the case, while there he sees a wanted poster for "Frederick Russell", who looks different to the man he shot. Officer Ray Price (Nick Damici) refuses to listen to Richard's contradictions and discuss the issue, dismissing his claims as a trick of memory due to shock. Richard follows Ben being taken away in an unmarked police car, he sees officers forcibly removing him from the car, injecting him with an unknown substance, splashing alcohol on him, and leaving him on the train tracks to die. Richard saves Ben from being hit by a train, Ben at first does not believe Richard's claims that he that the man he shot was not Freddy. The two dig up Freddy's grave and open the coffin, Ben confirms that the corpse is not his son, and notes that the man's finger tips have been cut off to prevent identification. Ray Price visits Richard and claims that Freddy changed his appearance to avoid capture, explaining the discrepancy in the wanted poster. Richard is then visited by private investigator Jim Bob Luke (Don Johnson), Ben knows him, he says that the name Fred Russell is tied to several widely circulated news stories about the killing of a burglar. Jim comes up with the theory that Freddy got involved with the Dixie Mafia, and that he was caught by Federal investigators, who faked Freddy's death and placed him in Witness Protection in exchange for information. Jim, Richard, and Ben learn that Freddy might be living in Houston under the name "Frank Miller", they attempt to meet him at his home. Instead they find his car containins a number of incriminating video tapes, which turn out to be snuff films, including a film which sees Freddy Russell (Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt and Goldie Hawn) beating a woman to death with a baseball bat. Richard wants to take the tape to the police, but Jim believes the police already know about them and will be unconcerned as Freddy is a valuable informant, the victims are apparently illegal immigrants whom few will miss. Ben resolves to kill his own son at any cost, they track Freddy to a remote mansion where he and his associates are making another snuff film. They infiltrate the mansion and begin killing everyone they encounter, leaving Freddy as the last survivor, Ben hesitates to kill him, and Jim is shot. Freddy shoots both Richard and Ben before Ben finally wounds him, Ben declares himself as Freddy's father, killing his own son, shooting him in the head, and dies from his wounds. Jim and Richard set the mansion on fire and escape with the hostage, the next morning Richard returns home to his family. Also starring Lanny Flaherty as Jack Crow and Ken Holmes as Burglar. Hall as the protective family man, Shepard as the vengeful ex-con father and Johnson as the private investigator each give great performances, what starts as a simple revenge against the death of a son slowly evolves into a much darker story of criminal activities and police corruption, it is thrilling and suspenseful when it needs to be, it is disturbing and has terrific twists along the way, an interesting independent crime drama. Good!

totally unbelievable , things just don't add up , you kill a man and then your wife is worried about the design on the sofa you just bought to replace bloodied one ? shallow or what ? put the bloodied seat covers out for the binman without wrapping them first ? our binmen wouldn't take them , risk of disease etc ! police leave a drugged man on the rail tracks but fail to wait for the train ?three guys then go on the hunt to find out who done what to who , and then the family guy turns into a pallid sort of clint eastwood when he was supposed to be so shook up about killing an intruder , has he all of a sudden grew some ?the world doesn't work like that !whoever wrote this load of rubbish needs to go back to the drawing board

Cold in July is directed by Jim Mickle and Mickle co-adapts the screenplay with Nick Damici from the novel written by Joe R. Lansdale. It stars Sam Shepard, Michael C. Hall and Don Johnson. Music is by Jeff Grace and cinematography is by Ryan Samul.1989 Texas and when Richard Dane (Hall) shoots and kills a burglar in his home, his life shifts into very dark places.A quality neo-noir pulper, Cold in July thrives because it never rests on its laurels. It consistently throws up narrative surprises, spinning the protagonists and us the audience into different territories. Fronted by three striking lead performances, each portraying a different type of character who bounce off of each other perfectly, the pic also has that late 80s swaggering appeal. Be it Grace's shifty synth based score, or the way Samul's photography uses primary colours for bold bluster, it's period reflective and tonally in keeping with the story.With substance in the writing, moody and dangerous atmosphere unbound and tech credits at the high end, this one is recommended with confidence to neo-noir fans. 8/10

I'm glad I watched it, but if I had missed it, I would have not worried much. Anyway, you can't say like that until you watch any movie. This movie was excellent, I mean it for the first 40-45 minutes. So much twist and thrills, I was almost regretting for almost missing it. But once the character Jim Bob Luke was introduced in a grand style, the narration went off the track.The best parts were over, I got lost interest, and I asked myself why it has to be like this after a wonderful opening? Especially for the character Dane who was a family man and his choice was completely wrong. As mush as Dane, I wanted to know who he shot, but that was not the story's intention to reveal and went in a different direction to disappoint me.The guys (actors) were awesome, but the writing was a let down, it owes lots of explanation rather telling a decent story. It was an indie crime-thriller based on the novel of the same name, sets in the 1980s. I won't say the film was bad, but I enjoyed only the half movie, the first half.6/10