Cold Creek Manor Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)January 10th, 2005
COLD CREEK MANOR (2003)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: One star
"Cold Creek Manor" has an impressive cast and director. Mike Figgis, the gifted stylistic poet of jazzy atmospheres where downtrodden people reside, directs one of his first major Hollywood productions in almost a decade. The cast includes Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Juliette Lewis and the lecherous Stephen Dorff. Impressive, indeed, at least on paper.
I think that if a director is going to do a mainstream flick in the thriller genre, he ought to know a few minor details. One is that atmosphere can only account for so much, especially seedy bars (a Figgis staple). Another is that when snakes are placed strategically inside a manor, the actors should know how to react without making the audience giggle. Also keep in mind that if you have a man who has no scruples or morals, he can still seem like a man if you bring some level of humanity - shedding tears on occasion will not mean much if he is nothing less than a remorseless killer spouting one-liners in the final reel. When the best performance in the film is a drunk Juliette Lewis who seems to have drifted in from Figgis's own "Leaving Las Vegas," then you know that either a.) you cast the wrong actors as the family to root for, or b.) Figgis has no business making mediocre thrillers like this. Lastly, remember that a suspense thriller, even on a psychological level, should have some degree of suspense. A crazily melodramatic piano and strings score won't cut it when it makes you laugh.
Everything that happens in "Cold Creek Manor" occurs at the screenplay's convenience. Watching Sharon Stone getting pushed around by Juliette Lewis stretches credibility. A bedridden Christopher Plummer can work wonders, but never share the same scene with Mr. Dorff. And watching Mr. Dorff punch Juliette in the mouth while she insists to her sister, a sheriff, that it was accidental is really stretching the reality barrier. I know these things happen, but in a bar where there are many witnesses? Call it denial and, in Hollywood's case, a denial of reality. Besides, that dusty old manor just doesn't make me jump.
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