Customer Reviews

Cold Front

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

COLD FRONT is inept, illogical filmmaking at its worst. It's another forgettable "unlikely partners buddy cop" film that relies on every overused cliché in the book. One might forgive this one's many flaws if the action sequences had any life or believability, but even there the picture fails. Oh, and Miss D'Angelo's self-penned torch songs stink almost as loud as her singing. If it wasn't for these factors this spy vs. spy vs. the law movie would still be a mediocrity, albeit not a glaring one with a capital G.

The whole CIA/KGB/China plot seems like an excuse to get in a "dig" at George Bush the father: "one of OURS is in the White House," is spoken out loud. The meaning is too clear: now that an ex-Agency chief is running the show, us spooks can do whatever the heck we want. It's shameless politicking in the midst of miserable miasma.

SPOILER ALERT
Oppportunities are squandered here; you don't need to be an expert to see that. As an example, we meet the family of one of our two heroes: the wife, the kids, oh how cute! They've fixed daddy some spaghetti and ice cream. Bleah. So this cop and his vehicle later explode in an enormous fireball. The other good guy almost instantly hears an "officer down" call over the police radio, even though the car was on an isolated wharf and there were NO eyewitnesses or other cops around. So how did Dispatch get the word that Officer so-and-so was a roasted cop-corn kernel? How else: through E.S.P (Extra Stupid Plotting).

Do we ever share this tragedy with the adorable family? Nope. They're out of the story. Instead our vengeful copper pursues a hitman who immolated the partner and is now chasing his ex-wife around a crewless freighter. How convenient BTW that there's no one on that ship at such a late hour! You know what's next. The bad guy grabs the girl just as the cop catches up to them and we have yet another "suspenseful" eyeball-to-eyeball gun-frontation. Dreary stuff.

Even if you are a Martin Sheen or Michael Ontkean fan, do NOT waste your time or money on this piece of whiz.


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(4.5) COLD FRONT (Canada/USA-1989) - Martin Sheen/Michael Ontkean/Beverly D'Angelo/Kim Coates

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John Hyde (Martin Sheen) an American cop, teams up with a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman (Michael Ontkean) and together they uncover a plot to hide international terrorists in Vancouver. This is not a mystery story as the evil villains are known from the beginning, but it is suspenseful and full of intrigue, as Hyde and McKenzie track down an assassin and his local support.

Beverly D'Angelo is better that she was as Ellen Griswold in National Lampoons Vacation. She plays a lounge singer and love interest of John Hyde (Martin Sheen).
She avoids the stereotype image of an angry ex-wife and instead treats he ex-husband as a friend.

I liked Martin Sheen better in Apocalypse Now (1979), where he plays a battle-weary Captain Willard on a secret upriver mission to find and execute the renegade Colonel Kurtz. In Cold Front he plays an American police officer on detached duty with the RCMP. In both he plays a character who would prefer to be anywhere except where he is.

Kim Coates, plays the chilling assassin and terrorist Mantha. Manta shows superior communication skills as he charms women, gets their trust, then kills them. Mantha is at once gentle seducer and believable unemotional killer. Mantha a Dr Jeckle/ Mr Hyde character who can be very charming and in the next minute ruthless, cold, and menacing. Kim Coates is almost as good as Daniel Day-Lewis (Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting) in Gangs of New York. I think Kim Coates adds a star to the rating.

Cold Front is set in Vancouver Canada. The cinematography is excellent overall, with outdoor shots using the beautiful Canadian Rockies, and action shots using Vancouver harbor. This is a nice average movie.