While Cold Creek Manor is fairly pedestrian in its basic elements, there is nothing that sinks it past mediocrity. It is pleasing enough to watch at home on DVD or HBO. There are some absurdities in the dialogue and plot points that seem a little ridiculous, but as long as high expectations are not brought into the viewing of this film, it is a somewhat satisfying experience.
There are only a couple of aspects of this film that are terrible. The inclusion of Stephen Dorf in the cast is frustrating. But I will admit I find Stephen Dorf to be the most irritating actor and I have never found any of his performances tolerable, except his performance in Backbeat. However, my dislike of Dorf is very much based on personal taste and not really on his ability. There are plenty of actors I think are terrible at their craft and I am not irritated by them, unlike Dorf. There are quite a lot of people who seem to feel similarly towards Juliette Lewis, whom I love.
As for a legitimate complaint, the score is awful. Figgis must not be allowed to write his own scores anymore. Although he received a lot of praise for his score in Leaving Las Vegas, all of his scores lack any subtly. Given that I rarely even notice a score of a movie without consciously making an effort to do so, it is very annoying to constantly be thinking "this music is horribly distracting," which happens frequently in films by Mike Figgis. Its one thing to have overblown scores in spectacle movies, like those scored by Elfman, Horner, and Williams, but they aren't distracting because they usually match well with the tones of their respective films. Yet pointing out the poor quality of the score is really quibbling over nothing when Cold Creek Manor is just a middle-of-the-road film.
There are only a couple of aspects of this film that are terrible. The inclusion of Stephen Dorf in the cast is frustrating. But I will admit I find Stephen Dorf to be the most irritating actor and I have never found any of his performances tolerable, except his performance in Backbeat. However, my dislike of Dorf is very much based on personal taste and not really on his ability. There are plenty of actors I think are terrible at their craft and I am not irritated by them, unlike Dorf. There are quite a lot of people who seem to feel similarly towards Juliette Lewis, whom I love.
As for a legitimate complaint, the score is awful. Figgis must not be allowed to write his own scores anymore. Although he received a lot of praise for his score in Leaving Las Vegas, all of his scores lack any subtly. Given that I rarely even notice a score of a movie without consciously making an effort to do so, it is very annoying to constantly be thinking "this music is horribly distracting," which happens frequently in films by Mike Figgis. Its one thing to have overblown scores in spectacle movies, like those scored by Elfman, Horner, and Williams, but they aren't distracting because they usually match well with the tones of their respective films. Yet pointing out the poor quality of the score is really quibbling over nothing when Cold Creek Manor is just a middle-of-the-road film.