Better Than 'The Pledge'? I Say Yes! - The Cold Light of Day (1996) Discussion

[–] zurichpoet 15 years ago

Where can I get a copy? I looked for it even over here.

I read the book. And Dürrenmatt's newest one to be put out, The Assignment.

It's insanely good.

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[–] Vito1 15 years ago

Is the ending of this film the same as The Pledge?

"Everything ends badly otherwise it wouldn't end

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[–] targa9 12 years ago

No, in the Pledge the killer burned to death in a car wreck on his way to meet the little girl, and Jack didn't know that, and went crazy in the end, thinking the killer was still loose. In this movie, the killer was shot in the head and killed in his car.

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[–] Agr0 14 years ago

I agree

Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia!

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[–] agera 12 years ago

I don't know which is the better adaptation since I haven't read the book. But I think "The Pledge" is a better movie than "The Cold Light of Day".

I really like Richard E. Grant and Perdita Weeks and I dislike Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson. But I think the latter two made a much better film.

"The Pledge" caught me up in a way this film just doesn't. The cinematography was like being in a maze, you just never knew what was around the next corner, which added to the suspense. And Jack Nicholson had so much more dimension to his character. You could really see how he got to where he was.

In "The Cold Light of Day", the cinematography is much more straightforward and Grant's character is not as multi-layered.

"I have had singing."

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[–] JaneBingley 12 years ago

I have to disagree. I saw "The Cold Light of Day" when it first came out, and the lightning, setting, the photos, everything is perfect and eerie.
Richard Grant is also younger than Nicholson, which makes me believe he can charm a young mother and befriend her daughter.

It was also more focus on the little girl, when she walks in the woods and meet the psycho killer (who is her pediatrician here btw)

The suspense in this Cold light of day is intense, and I was almost out of breath watching.

The Pledge on the other hand, is a good movie, but a more straight forward thriller.

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[–] targa9 12 years ago

I agree, Jane. Good point about Marek being younger and being able to seduce a woman to live with him. But then again, Nicholson's "paternal" attitude was attractive, and the poor woman wouldn't have to worry about him making a pass (in the movie, she did anyway, if I remember). But another point is how the young Marek could afford to pay for the place, being simply fired from the police, and how could he stand to live away from his son. In Nicholson's case, he was retired with a cop's pension, and therefore had money, and any children he had were already grown up, so that made some sense too.

The doctor was a pediatrician, but not "her" pediatrician! She doesn't know who this man is; she just sees the friendly dog puppet and talks to it.
The woman certainly could not afford a pediatrician anyway!

Finally, the big difference between these movies is the ending and the villain.
In the Pledge, the villain is unknown, and in fact we are introduced to a "false" villain (McGuffin) and the real killer simply burns to death in a car wreck on his way to meet the girl, and we (or Jack Nicholson) never get to know him. In this movie, the villain is deliciously fleshed out, and very creepy indeed, even approaching the house and luring the girl away, and in one scene he almost slits her throat but his pager goes off! Wow. And of course, he was discovered and killed by our heroes, unlike Penn's film, where Jack just goes crazy in the end.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] targa9 12 years ago

Yes I agree, jacksommersby. The Pledge did not reveal who the killer was, and also it was unsatisfying in the end when he burned up in the car, and Jack went crazy. All too muted and frustrating. This movie really fleshed out the villain, which I found interesting, and of course it was a very satisfying ending. The only thing I liked better in the Pledge was Benicio del Toro's crazy character, who's speech and suicide were much more compelling than this version. The little girl was beautiful, too. But oh, that villain! Excellent! Also, the "snakes" being red licorice, and how her hand was shown smeared in red (like blood) was also a great motif.

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[–] denise1234 10 years ago

I agree.

The Pledge had some interesting performances and wonderful cinematography.

But I liked how the story/plot was handled much better in The Cold Light Of Day.

The Pledge had unnecessary ambiguity IMHO and I did not like the ending.

"I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book." ~ Bradbury

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[–] przgzr 8 years ago

Just the opposite, while I really admired Cold Light (and having it seen years before The Pledge has been made) the end of Penn's movie is something rarely seen, intriguing, both pitiful and ironic, and unlike traditional message that the crime has to be punished the message we get from The Pledge is something that nobody would expect until the very end - it is a warning what obsession can lead to. Obsession (in modern days the terrorism, especially its suicide type, became a great example) inevitably leads to destruction, either of the subject or the object of the obsession, or both, and frequently with an amount of collateral victims. (The damage doesn't have to be physical, it can be mental, emotional etc. But it's always tragic.)

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