hyped garbage

As Good As It Gets

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The plot of "Out Cold" could have made a movie as funny as the 1950's era Alec Guinness/Ealing Studios comedies. But something didn't click for me in the way "Out Cold" was filmed. Most notably, the music was way off. Music and sound effects was a big part of the Guinness comedies. But in addition to the poor music choices and lack of comic sound effects, there were stretches that didn't seem to accomplish anything except take up time.There is a twist at the end of "Out Cold" that is left for the viewer to interpret. Was Dave (John Lithgow) not the bumbling naif he seemed to be?

Ernie and Dave were butchers in the army (during the opening credits photos of them in their uniforms, along with Sunny, are shown). They open their own butcher shop, and Ernie is married to Sunny. Ernie is abusive, and Sunny is cheating on him. And the door to the freezer in the butcher shop keeps closing and locking when someone is inside.John Lithgow is at his best playing nervous characters who panic over every little thing. Of course, in this movie his character has plenty of reason to be nervous, and it doesn't help that Sunny is hiding some very important information from him. Teri Garr is not only good-looking but comes across as quite calm and pretty much in control. Randy Quaid is quite goofy as the detective Sunny hires to help her divorce Ernie. Like Dave, the detective also thinks he knows something that we know isn't true, and the results can be quite funny.This wasn't all that great at first, but as the situations got sillier, I was really enjoying it. I've seen better movies like this, but this was pretty good.

Strangely panned by many critics yet this is actually a funny, black comedy about small-time accidents, coincidences, misunderstandings, failed scheming and murder amongst friends and spouses that has a lot more wit than the overrated Blood Simple. The plot is tight, the humor is delightfully droll and the next-door type characters are well-drawn and fun to watch despite their nastiness, simply because of the blackly amusing circumstances they find themselves in.This did not deserve to become so obscure. Re-issue it on DVD please.

*********Minor spoiler contained below********* This is easily one of my favorite ten movies.The deadpan performances witty and quips between characters (the scene where Lester Atlas visits Dave at the butcher shop while he's trying to `dispose' of a corpse is absolutely hilarious!) are what make this movie shine. However, this kind of morbid humor is not for everyone, but to those of us who enjoy this brand of sick humor, enjoy!"Out Cold" definitely deserves more credit than it's been given, and if you give it a chance, it won't disappoint you. My Rating: Ten stars out of ten.P.S. If you enjoyed Randy Quaid in "Out Cold", you might enjoy him in the even lesser-known film entitled "Parents". You are warned, though. `Parents' isn't a comedy; it's a very disturbing satirical look at American consumerism in the 1950's. However, it is ones of the few chances where you get a chance to see how good of an actor Randy Quaid actually is.