My review was written in February 1989 after watching the film at a Times Square screening room.
Talented performers are trapped in a pointless, unfunny attempt at black comedy in "Out Cold", a shelved Hemdale pic originally titled more appropriately "Stiffs" and finally unfrozen for public consumption.
George Malko and Leonard Glasser's leaden script contrives an intrigue among brothers: Bruce McGill is the hissable creep who's cheating on wife Teri Garr, while partner at his butcher shop John Lithgow is a lonely nerd. After McGill beats her up, Garr goes to klutzy private eye Randy Quaid to get the goods on her hubby. Quaid is so incompetent that he photographs the other woman -Garr in a black wig -and doesn't even recognize her. Why Garr dresses up in unbecoming wigs is the first of many indigestible plot pegs.
Contrived plot heats up in the butcher shop freezer with its conveniently faulty lock. After an argument, Lithgow nearly locks McGill in there by accident and then Garr visits to lock him in on purpose. With McGill dead, Garr and Lithgow team up romantically, leading to several double crosses and an ironic payoff. The black humor is supposed to derive from the duo's difficulties in disposing of McGill's body, handled in tired fashion.
Without a single witty line to utter, the leads are left stumbling around in stillborn situation comedy, not helped by Malcolm Mowbray's flat direction. A scene at a topless bar in hunting country is meant to condescendingly satirize Middle American folkways, but looks like random footage spliced in from a '70s exploitation film.
For Quaid, this marks with "Parents" two (dissimilar) "red meat" films in a row, in which closeups of ambiguous cold cuts are the most lasting image. Quaid, Garr and Lithgow give it a college try but are a bit embarrassing in failed slapstick. Tech credits are perfunctory.
Talented performers are trapped in a pointless, unfunny attempt at black comedy in "Out Cold", a shelved Hemdale pic originally titled more appropriately "Stiffs" and finally unfrozen for public consumption.
George Malko and Leonard Glasser's leaden script contrives an intrigue among brothers: Bruce McGill is the hissable creep who's cheating on wife Teri Garr, while partner at his butcher shop John Lithgow is a lonely nerd. After McGill beats her up, Garr goes to klutzy private eye Randy Quaid to get the goods on her hubby. Quaid is so incompetent that he photographs the other woman -Garr in a black wig -and doesn't even recognize her. Why Garr dresses up in unbecoming wigs is the first of many indigestible plot pegs.
Contrived plot heats up in the butcher shop freezer with its conveniently faulty lock. After an argument, Lithgow nearly locks McGill in there by accident and then Garr visits to lock him in on purpose. With McGill dead, Garr and Lithgow team up romantically, leading to several double crosses and an ironic payoff. The black humor is supposed to derive from the duo's difficulties in disposing of McGill's body, handled in tired fashion.
Without a single witty line to utter, the leads are left stumbling around in stillborn situation comedy, not helped by Malcolm Mowbray's flat direction. A scene at a topless bar in hunting country is meant to condescendingly satirize Middle American folkways, but looks like random footage spliced in from a '70s exploitation film.
For Quaid, this marks with "Parents" two (dissimilar) "red meat" films in a row, in which closeups of ambiguous cold cuts are the most lasting image. Quaid, Garr and Lithgow give it a college try but are a bit embarrassing in failed slapstick. Tech credits are perfunctory.