Cold Around the Heart (1997)

Wonderful character development!

So much average

An action-packed slog

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Worthwhile film with some very interesting plot twists. What makes the film so good is that there is constant back-stabbing in the never ending plot twists.David Caruso and Kelly Lynch star as the 2 bandits who are on the lam following a jewelry heist, where Lynch used her gun to kill 3 people in the store. What follows is an absolute thriller with deception here as the name of the game.Caruso meets on the way a young black teenager, who pulls a gun on him before breaking down and telling him her sad story.On the other hand, Lynch fearing that Caruson will catch up and kill her for her betrayal, meets up with T, a very interesting character played by Chris Noth, in a totally change of persona for Mr. Noth.T is not as innocent and naive as he is made out to be. In fact, he is a plant by the Caruso character.The ending may be somewhat bizarre and violent, but remember the old Babylonian adage: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth or simply, what goes around, comes around.Our teenager represents that there is redemption and justification for a second chance.

This is an interesting film with weaknesses and strengths already cited by many. But I'm on the side of good rather than weak.Cliches abound, but in the context of the characters, perhaps understandable since they're easier to use than real communication. This movie is about virtue versus the "bad seed". Who is and who isn't. The low life quest where everyone is out for themselves continues throughout with twist after twist. I found it a plus overall, even though some story transitions were puzzling if not far- fetched. I was entertained.

After David Caruso left the popular TV series "N.Y.P.D. Blue" where he had become a star through his appearances on the first 26 episodes, finding work anywhere else was hard to come by and it would seem as though he would forever be typecast as Detective John Kelly. However, the decent results of this 1997 20th Century Fox release prove that Caruso could find something decent outside of his TV stardom. Caruso portrays Ned, a "gentleman" jewel thief who plans a big diamond heist with his partner, Jude (Kelly Lynch). It seemed perfectly planned but Jude gets greedy and takes off with the diamonds leaving a vengeful Ned in hot pursuit. Slow moving at times but the occasional big climactic monent makes up for the film's occasional slow pace.

Ned Tash and girlfriend Jude Law (no, really!) are escaping a messy robbery. With the police closing Law pushes Tash from the car and escapes while he is caught. When Tash takes the fall for three murders he didn't do he escapes custody and plans to hunt down and kill Jude. Along the way he picks up hitchhiker Bec and together they go cross country to find Jude. Double cross and betrayal is never far away.The film opens with a betrayal after a messy robbery – and it never gets to rise above that cliché. The story is very sedentary and never gets any tension or excitement. The story moves very slowly – things happen but they are not surprising or interesting, leaving you cold, detached from the story. The script is full of cliché and pure laziness – Tash's escape from custody is too easy and things like buying a car etc are just glossed over. Betray and double crosses are good things when done well – here they fail to spark even slight interest.The performances are poor considering the cast. I love Caruso – he's made bad movie choices but he's still one of my favourite actors. Here he does his usual `cocked head, menacing tone but honest guy' act that he's done since it hit in NYPD Blue, but he doesn't bring any depth to Ned – failing to show us when he can't shake Jude off. Being stuck with that stupid haircut probably didn't help. Likewise Lynch didn't seem up to the job of playing Jude……and yes, someone did decide to call her Jude Law despite the famous namesake! Stacey Dash (Clueless) is very sexy – but her dull narration at the start sets a poor tone, she does OK but again her character is a cardboard cut out. Cameos from the excellent John Spencer (West Wing) and the goofy Richard Kind (Spin City) help by being interesting – but they aren't in it long enough to be save the film.It's a shame because the cast deserved better. But the script is poor and cliched and the story is delivered as flat and lifelessly as it can be. A real disappointment that fails to grip.