The director and producer of documentaries Cooper Tilson (Dennis Quaid) and his wife, the executive Leah Tilson (Sharon Stone) have a stressed life with their two children in New York. After a minor accident with their son Jesse (Ryan Wilson), they decide to move to the country. They find a huge old house with furniture and a large field for a bargain and decide to buy it. They make a garage sale to get rid of the possessions of the former owner, and a couple of days later, Dale Massie (Stephen Dorff) visits them, introducing himself as the previous owner, who lost the house for the bank after being sent to the prison for three years for accidentally killing a man. He asks for a job in the repair team, and Cooper accepts to hire him. The life of the Tilson family changes after the arrival of Dale, and deep secrets about the former family are disclosed.
"Cold Creek Manor" is a Mike Figgis' thriller, having names such as Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Julliete Lewis and Stephen Dorff in the credits; therefore I expected a great movie. Most of the time, I kept saying to myself: "-Surprise me, surprise me". Indeed this film surprised me, in a bad sense: it is nothing but a standard and bureaucratic thriller, full of clichés and incredible situations. For example, who would hire a weird man, former owner of a property and that has just left the jail? Or when Cooper is threatened, why he stays alone in the isolated house, with doors and windows completely open? Or when Leah and Tilson are threatened, why do they look for refugee in the house, climbing to the higher floors, after seeing their car on fire? This movie is a typical commercial product, broadcast on Saturday night by the largest Brazilian open network: shallow, predictable and full of stars. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Garganta do Diabo" ("Devil's Throat")
