Movies
make terrible doctors. If you ever find yourself pierced by a foreign object,
dislodging it could be fatal, but that is usually the first thing film
characters do when they find themselves in that predicament. Frankly, our
mystery snow-mobiler would probably be dead after the first five minutes, after
she pulls loose an impaling tree branch. Fortunately, a grizzled cat like Jean
Reno knows better. The reclusive hitman will nurse her back to health in
director-screenwriter Frederic Petitjean’s Cold
Blood, which opens tomorrow in New York.
Henry
is a stealthy professional, who often uses untraceable ice bullets, including
the job that kicks off the film. He then calmly returns to his remote Pacific
Northwest retreat. It is a good thing he did, because it is his cabin Melody
crawls to after her sudden snow mobile accident. She wanted to get away from
everything—and she did.
His
bedside manner is not so great, but Melody is not an especially gracious
patient either. Nevertheless, Henry manages to nurse her back to health, even
though neither of them trusts the other. Of course, their suspicions will be
justified over time. Meanwhile, Deputy Kappa, a former NYPD cop, who relocated
to Spokane for reasons even he doesn’t understand, diligently works the case of
the industrialist Henry whacked during the film’s most interesting sequence.
Spokane
has a population over 200,000 as well as its own airport, but everyone in the
film acts like it is the equivalent of Twin Peaks. At least they pronounce it
correctly. Honestly, viewers will wish they could see more of the city, because
cabin fever sets in pretty quickly during this film. Jean Reno is one of the
most reliable and under-appreciated hard-nosed actors in the business today,
but watching him tend to Melody’s wounds and giving her stern advice gets old
after a while. Honestly, not enough happens in Cold Blood and most of the events that transpire are ridiculously
contrived.
In
addition to Reno, Joe Anderson is also highly watchable as Kappa, perhaps
because he truly looks like he resents every moment he is in the picture. That
leaves Sarah Lind in an awkward spot, playing it straight opposite the steely
Reno an in contrast to the snarky Anderson.