Movie Review: Cold Light of Day

“The Cold Light of Day” is a painstakingly awful film. Nothing seems to work in this 93-minute bore of a movie. From its awkward and nonsensical title, to its exceptionally bad dialogue, terrible acting (paychecks, anyone?) and cliché-infested plot, this so-called movie is a mess from start to finish. Directed by Mabrouk El Mechri, “Day” is an unflattering attempt to imitate the “Bourne” series. This couldn’t be more obvious, from the main character’s “fish out of water” scenario, to the “puzzle game” plotline and government interference. Very little of this movie is actually exciting or engaging. Even the action scenes are dull and uninspired, leaving viewers anxious and unfulfilled.

Henry Cavill stars as Will (let’s hope this cringe-worthy performance doesn’t carry over to “Man of Steel”) a man on a family vacation in Spain along with his father, Martin (Bruce Willis) and the rest of his family. While on board his family’s boat, Will receives a bad business call which distracts him from watching the sail. The sail of the boat slams into his brother’s girlfriend, hitting her in the head and prompting Will to swim ashore for medicine. As Will returns to the boat, he realizes his parents are missing.         The rest of the story is dizzying, stupid and predictable. Martin is not really who he seems to be and neither is Carrack (Sigourney Weaver), the only person left he believes he can trust. Carrack is after a mysterious briefcase that Martin has stolen. Along the way, Will meets Lucia (newcomer Verónica Echegui) who helps him try to locate his family. Unfortunately, the film moves too fast and there are too many obvious goofs and shameless product placements for us to take this movie seriously.

“The Cold Light of Day” has such stale and uninspired acting that it is impossible for us to appreciate any of the characters. Viewers expect a lot more from A-listers Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver, as well as the mid-budget financing for this film. What viewers see feels like B-grade quality in every sense of the word. The only mildly entertaining part was the concluding car chase scene, though it lost much of its enjoyment because of the shaky and incomprehensible camera shots. What we have here is a movie that is best left forgotten and buried away.