Movie rating: 1 and half Star

Cold Light of Day

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Henry Cavill has been stacking up the pre-Superman productions before he dons the red cape in 2013. But after the mundane Immortals and this absolute clunker of a thriller, he better hope his time in tights is a mammoth enough hit for audiences to forget his pre-Supes work. 
Cavill is an uptight American businessman visiting his father (a typically smug Bruce Willis) in Spain, when his family are kidnapped from their yacht while he’s at shore. Pretty sharpish he finds out his aul’ lad is in fact a CIA Agent and by all accounts, a bit of a bollocks. He must try to avoid being clipped by Sigourney Weaver’s spook, while also tracking down his family before they become fish food.
There was a point during The Cold Light of Day when I just completely switched off and started admiring how handsome Henry Cavill is. There are enough close-ups of his chiselled mush to really emphasise the good looks of the British star. Personally , I believe his casting was a ploy by the producers to distract from how god awful this production is - “screw the script, look at that jawline, even straight critics will be transfixed.”
I didn’t so much hate this clunky film, more felt complete indifference towards it. Willis looks like he could give less of a shit, Weaver is paying bills while Cavill tries desperately to inject some urgency to proceedings by looking frazzled a lot. He certainly has potential as a viable leading man, but at this stage, pre-Superman, he needs much stronger roles to avoid the inevitable typecasting after that film eventually arrives.
The cinematic equivalent of a drunken score in a grimy bar; sloppy, cringe-worthy and something you won’t ever wanna do again.

Watch: Cold Light of Day

Review by Mike Sheridan | 18:00 | Friday 6th April 2012 | Movie Review

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Comments

• FilmBuff76

  Having battled Immortals recently, rising actor Henry Cavill now tackles shadowy agents in the noir-ish sounding The Cold Light Of Day. Sadly, it comes across as little more than a quickie vehicle to raise Cavill's profile before he flies onto our screens as Superman next year. He plays an American holidaying in Spain with his family. When his family is kidnapped, he follows the breadcrumbs across Madrid to both the CIA and a suspected terrorist group. His father (an under-used Bruce Willis) has been hiding something that will lead to this family having one very bad day... The film zips along at a fast pace but barely stops to breathe. It's hard to know what's going on half the time, as no-one seems trustworthy and even the cops seem to be up to something. One bizarre plot plot stretches credibility and justifiably provoked laughs in the audience. The Cold Light Of Day is one of those instantly forgettable films that just about passes the time... but nothing more.

  Posted 19:30 | Fri 6th Apr 2012

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