Anguishing over the mistakes of her past, once up and coming documentary great Erica Shaw (Bethany Joy Lenz) is now eking out an existence filming funerals and the occasional wedding. A self imposed atonement for a secret she longs to forget.
Suddenly forceful client Alyssa Bradford-Cohen (Alysia Reiner) bursts into Erica's apartment uninvited, but what she says next will reignite the psychic documentarian in Erica. Before she knows it, Erica has commited to finding out the truth about Alyssa's father Campbell Bradford (Michael J Rogers). Thus our story begins.
Relative newcomer writer/director Paul Shoulberg brings some solid ideas to the table in a film which had the potential to be a 6 star film.
Instead what we see is a disjointed film tormented by it's complete lack of identity and voice. A film which barely scrapes in as a 2 star and that no one in good conscious could genuinely recommend watching.
So Cold the River showcases through contrary example the importance of good editing in the filmmaking process in order to develop a story that fits inside your budget.
The decision to employ undisclosed supernatural forces in order to deliver a fragmented retrospective on which the entire plot relies is both the main contributor to the muddled feeling of the film and insulting to the viewer. This is only further compounded by their short repetitive nature and disconnect from the scenes in which they appear.
One sees what Shoulberg was attempting to achieve, however there simply was not enough retrospective content to fulfill the goal. What did exist lacked sufficient substance to sustain the viewers attention or progress the story. This made it impossible for the viewer to lose themselves in the world of the film and painfully obvious that a thoroughly predictable twist was coming. Why else would you keep showing the same short snippets if it wasn't because all you had left was a reveal.
Moreover, So Cold the River is a victim of a curious paradox; for at once it is both far too long and yet too short. Pacing is a problem for this film and it makes this film drag until the viewer is beaten into submission. Despite this, there is so little plot substance, character development and world building taking place that the film ends before anything has even really happened.
Frequently we find ourselves in situations, or meeting new characters for which the film suggests in the moment there is precence where none has actually appeared in the film. One can only then assume the establishing scenes are sitting on the proverbal cutting room floor.
Similarly a lack of establishing shots of the town and the fact the overwhelming majority of the film takes place inside Erica's hotel, make the world feel small with the viewer is left questioning if any town exists at all despite characters constantly referencing it. Is the hotel the town? We'll never know.
Bethany Joy Lenz delivers an acceptable performance, whilst performances by Katie Sarife, Deanna Dunagan and Andrew J. West are perhaps more modest.
Set dressing is often too dark, actively drawing life out of the performances. Costumes were adequate and occationally fun. There is some pops of depth and humour to be found if you're paying attention to these elements, however they are sparse and can not make up for the lack of overall story.
Ultimately a movie is more than just a couple of good ideas that you don't have the funding to give their due execution. That leaves So Cold the River with little for audiences to enjoy and no real story to follow. With some more time in the editing booth and perhaps a few extra scenes shot, this could be a compelling casual watch. But in its current state you will regret watching it, and hate yourself if you ignore this warning.
Suddenly forceful client Alyssa Bradford-Cohen (Alysia Reiner) bursts into Erica's apartment uninvited, but what she says next will reignite the psychic documentarian in Erica. Before she knows it, Erica has commited to finding out the truth about Alyssa's father Campbell Bradford (Michael J Rogers). Thus our story begins.
Relative newcomer writer/director Paul Shoulberg brings some solid ideas to the table in a film which had the potential to be a 6 star film.
Instead what we see is a disjointed film tormented by it's complete lack of identity and voice. A film which barely scrapes in as a 2 star and that no one in good conscious could genuinely recommend watching.
So Cold the River showcases through contrary example the importance of good editing in the filmmaking process in order to develop a story that fits inside your budget.
The decision to employ undisclosed supernatural forces in order to deliver a fragmented retrospective on which the entire plot relies is both the main contributor to the muddled feeling of the film and insulting to the viewer. This is only further compounded by their short repetitive nature and disconnect from the scenes in which they appear.
One sees what Shoulberg was attempting to achieve, however there simply was not enough retrospective content to fulfill the goal. What did exist lacked sufficient substance to sustain the viewers attention or progress the story. This made it impossible for the viewer to lose themselves in the world of the film and painfully obvious that a thoroughly predictable twist was coming. Why else would you keep showing the same short snippets if it wasn't because all you had left was a reveal.
Moreover, So Cold the River is a victim of a curious paradox; for at once it is both far too long and yet too short. Pacing is a problem for this film and it makes this film drag until the viewer is beaten into submission. Despite this, there is so little plot substance, character development and world building taking place that the film ends before anything has even really happened.
Frequently we find ourselves in situations, or meeting new characters for which the film suggests in the moment there is precence where none has actually appeared in the film. One can only then assume the establishing scenes are sitting on the proverbal cutting room floor.
Similarly a lack of establishing shots of the town and the fact the overwhelming majority of the film takes place inside Erica's hotel, make the world feel small with the viewer is left questioning if any town exists at all despite characters constantly referencing it. Is the hotel the town? We'll never know.
Bethany Joy Lenz delivers an acceptable performance, whilst performances by Katie Sarife, Deanna Dunagan and Andrew J. West are perhaps more modest.
Set dressing is often too dark, actively drawing life out of the performances. Costumes were adequate and occationally fun. There is some pops of depth and humour to be found if you're paying attention to these elements, however they are sparse and can not make up for the lack of overall story.
Ultimately a movie is more than just a couple of good ideas that you don't have the funding to give their due execution. That leaves So Cold the River with little for audiences to enjoy and no real story to follow. With some more time in the editing booth and perhaps a few extra scenes shot, this could be a compelling casual watch. But in its current state you will regret watching it, and hate yourself if you ignore this warning.