While director Mabrouk El Mechri's “wrong man” caper flick boasts star power—with Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver in supporting roles—The Cold Light of Day is a perfunctory action film. Will Shaw (Henry Cavill) runs into trouble while reuniting with his family on vacation in Spain, including his dad, Martin (Willis)—supposedly an attaché with the American embassy—who is actually a CIA agent. When Martin is killed by a gang and his mother and brother are kidnapped, Will winds up becoming a target of both the abductors and the police. The key to the plot turns out to be something as banal as a briefcase containing secret papers, and Martin's old partner (Weaver) shows up exhibiting a very sinister smirk. The movie trades in stock tropes: endless pursuits through streets and over rooftops, as well as an alliance between Will and a beautiful young woman, all of which leads up to a long car chase that causes serious damage to the attractive Madrid locations. Serving up a tedious slog through very familiar territory, this is not recommended. (F. Swietek)
The Cold Light of Day
Lionsgate, 93 min., PG-13, DVD: $19.99, Blu-ray: $24.99, Jan. 29 Volume 28, Issue 1
The Cold Light of Day
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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