I’m a longstanding fan of Jim Mickle and Nick Damici since Mulberry Street and Stake Land, and that is why I decided to watch Cold in July. Initially Cold In July vaguely reminded me of Blood Simple, but it still seemed like a departure from their earlier work. I was not surprised to discover that it was an adaptation of a novel. As a period piece, Cold in July is perfect-it convincingly presents the 80s in all its glory even with a clever piece of casting and one scene at a drive-in showing of Night of the Living Dead. Cold in July is iconic as a piece about masculinity, duty and the image versus the reality of being drafted into action. Parts of Cold in July work, but there were too many holes in the overall story that probably get explained effectively in the book.
SPOILERS
If Ben Russell has not seen his son since he was child and is such a bad ex-con (what did he do–who knows, don’t ask, but he is noble and principled because he is Sam Shepard), why would he care now if it was done in the way it was presented since he is later shown as a guy who does the right thing. If the police didn’t read anything in the newspaper about him dying, the police would have done more to find out what happened to him, including looking for known associates. I get that Richard Dane always does the right thing even if it is difficult or inconvenient, but seriously he left his family and decided to hunt down and slaughter a bunch of sickos after nearly losing his mind and sleep from killing a single intruder yet killing a bunch helps him to find sleep and rest. Really? There is a pig farmer and no one gets fed to a pig. I was ready to anoint Jim Mickle and Nick Damici as the best American living independent filmmakers, but now that they are turning their attention to adapting books or remaking foreign films (I still haven’t seen We Are What We Are, but plan to soon), I’m afraid that I’m going to have sit and wait a bit longer before bestowing it.