The Cold Lands (2013)
A simple premise—a teenage kid raised to be a loner and staunchly independent finds his only parent now dead—turns into a quest for survival. He doesn't quite live off the land, but he does become a scavenger, and has to break the law in small ways to get enough to live. It's all interesting, if a bit straight forward. It's almost like someone said, here's a cool idea, this kid living solo by his wits, but then they didn't know what to do with the idea.
A second character does come into play, and this takes the plot in a whole new and interesting direction. The acting here is good, and the believable settings continue to hold us in. But this oddly become a little routine, also. Not that what they do to keep going is ordinary, quite, but it is what it is, and we follow along.
What is missing is a deeper sense of the psychology. Or maybe, if you want to say the kid is young enough he's just acting on survival instincts, that needs to be revealed. But instead we have plot and more plot, and the plot is weirdly thin. The presence of Lili Taylor in the beginning is terrific—but she's the mom who dies. Not a spoiler—this is the essence of the trailer and the promo material.
There are eventually small surprises and charms here, so maybe give this a shot. But don't expect much.
A simple premise—a teenage kid raised to be a loner and staunchly independent finds his only parent now dead—turns into a quest for survival. He doesn't quite live off the land, but he does become a scavenger, and has to break the law in small ways to get enough to live. It's all interesting, if a bit straight forward. It's almost like someone said, here's a cool idea, this kid living solo by his wits, but then they didn't know what to do with the idea.
A second character does come into play, and this takes the plot in a whole new and interesting direction. The acting here is good, and the believable settings continue to hold us in. But this oddly become a little routine, also. Not that what they do to keep going is ordinary, quite, but it is what it is, and we follow along.
What is missing is a deeper sense of the psychology. Or maybe, if you want to say the kid is young enough he's just acting on survival instincts, that needs to be revealed. But instead we have plot and more plot, and the plot is weirdly thin. The presence of Lili Taylor in the beginning is terrific—but she's the mom who dies. Not a spoiler—this is the essence of the trailer and the promo material.
There are eventually small surprises and charms here, so maybe give this a shot. But don't expect much.