Day 82/86 - Cold Weather (2010)

An Indie crime mystery set in Portland, Oregon, Aaron Katz’s Cold Weather focuses on Doug (Cris Lankenau) who studied to be a forensic specialist, but has only found work at an ice factory. He lives with his sister Gail (Trieste Kelly Dunn). At work Doug befriends Carlos (Raul Castillo), a d.j. who ends up dating Doug’s former girl friend Rachel (Robyn Rikoon).  

Doug turns Carlos onto Sherlock Holmes and when he arrives to find Rachel not in her motel room, he immediately determines “the game is afoot.” Carlos convinces Doug he must use his forensic skills and the two have a really interesting sequence where they go to the motel to find clues.

Later Doug enlists his sister’s help in deciphering the clues Doug finds. He has her steal a library book and drive him around.

The characters are likeable and I began to expect a lot because of the first part of the film. About two-thirds of the way through the film, the plot gets a bit muddled and it ends abruptly, ignoring any sense of basic resolution.  In spite of the ending, the characters and the first part were enjoyable enough for me to recommend the film. Feel free to scream at the ending like many have.

As a special note, I really liked the music in this film. It beautifully set the mood.

Cold Weather (2010) ****