A self-styled Sherlock Holmes leads an unlikely team of irregulars in this charming comic mystery from indie auteur Aaron Katz. After abandoning a promising academic career in forensic science, aimless Doug (Cris Lankenau) returns to Portland to live with his more responsible big sister Gail (Trieste Kelly Dunn).
He easily lands a dead-end job working in an ice factory, but his latent passion for detective work is stoked when his ex-girlfriend, Rachel (Robyn Rikoon) goes missing.
Armed with a handful of arcane clues and a vast knowledge of the world of Sherlock Holmes, Doug enlists Gail and co-worker Carlos (Raúl Castillo) in a ramshackle investigation that draws the slacker sleuths into Portland’s underground. What they discover is a complex trail of clues, leading them increasingly close to the discovering the mysterious truth about Rachel.
Building on the lyrical style and naturalistic performances of his two previous features, DANCE PARTY USA and QUIET CITY, Katz offers a refreshingly idiosyncratic spin on genre conventions. COLD WEATHER is simultaneously the story of a brother and sister getting to know each other after years apart and a mystery in the great tradition of crime and detective fiction.
Cold Weather opened to very positive reviews and currently holds a 78% “fresh” rating on the film review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote: “With no grand speeches or oversized gestures, Mr. Katz creates a specific world that gracefully enlarges with universal meaning.”
Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun Times wrote: “”Cold Weather” is good in so many subtle ways, I despair of doing them justice. It’s a thriller involving the personalities of its characters, who we get to know surprisingly well. It remains low-key even during its final big chase scene, which only involves one car. The acting is so good, you may not notice it.
Although the characters stumble over the plot at least 40 minutes into the film, it’s as ingenious as a high-tech Friday night special.” The film received “Two Thumbs Up” from Christy Lemire and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of Ebert presents At the Movies; it was the only film reviewed that week to receive the rating.
Cold Weather
Directed by: Aaron Katz
Starring: Cris Lankenau, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Raul Castillo, Robyn Rikoon, Jeb Pearson, Orianna Herrman, Joshua Locy
Screenplay by: Aaron Katz, Brendan McFadden, Ben Stambler
Production Design by: Elliott Glick
Cinematography by: Andrew Reed
Film Editing by: Aaron Katz
Art Direction by: Joshua Locy
Music by: Keegan DeWitt
MPAA Rating: None.
Studio: IFC Films
Release Date: February 4, 2011
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