Coldwater (film)
Run by a former Marine, Colonel Frank Reichert, who suffers from chronic alcoholism, after his wife left him for her yoga teacher and son committed suicide at the end of his second tour.
The story centers around Brad Lunders, a teenager who has a tenuous relationship with his mother and her new boyfriend, incarcerated for low level drug dealing and for his role in the death of his girlfriend Erin.
Conflict develops between Brad and Josh, a staff member, which intensifies after an inmate is maimed and permanently injured during an ethically questionable, overnight punishment where they are left handcuffed to a ceiling.
Despite being younger, Brad is larger, stronger and a better fighter, and quickly beats Josh into submission and only the intervention of other staff members keeps him from more severe injury.
The film ends with Brad being released from police custody without charge, at which time he is picked up by his mother while the news media show footage of the carnage that occurred at Coldwater.
Grashaw, a California native who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, but with "no connections to the industry whatsoever," wrote the first draft of the screenplay right out of high school in 1999.
"[2] Grashaw, who grew unhappy with the development of his script, describing himself as "very limited when it comes to writing," brought Mark Penney aboard in 2003 for a page 1 rewrite.
[13] A musician with a passion for films, Boudousqué had evacuated to Los Angeles from New Orleans as a teenager after Hurricane Katrina and chose to study acting.
"[16] After Coldwater, Boudousqué would win roles in a number of high-profile television shows, including Pretty Little Liars (2013), American Horror Story (2013), and Bones (2014).
Burns had a long resume playing tough military types, spending much time with cops and marines for his work, even traveling with the USO show to Afghanistan to visit the troops.
"[29] The movie was primarily written and shot as a linear narrative, with the main character's pre-reform camp life of self-destruction comprising the first act of the film.
The first cut screened for the cast and crew even maintained this structure, but it was felt that the linear style lacked a strong enough element of discovery.
[34] The film was specially selected to screen at the 2013 Survivors of Institutional Abuse (SIA) Convention in Washington, D.C.[35] Coldwater was released theatrically in the United States,[36] France,[37] and Toronto, Ontario, Canada[38] in the summer of 2014.
[60] Coldwater received almost universal acclaim from independent film critics from dozens of outlets beginning with its World Premiere at SXSW.
Critics also pointed to the movie's inventive use of dramatic, thriller, prison-film and even horror genre elements in combination with its topical themes and sociological exposé, as well as its gritty realism in direction and photography, non-linear storytelling, haunting musical score, and strong performances from a cast of unknown actors.
Director/co-writer/producer Vincent Grashaw, with co-writer Mark Penney, have taken these true stories and crafted a powerful work that transcends the genre and leaves the viewer emotionally drained.
"[65] Playmaker magazine's A+ score the night of Coldwater's SXSW premiere called it "a compelling and emotional ride, easily worthy of being named the best movie at the festival."
"[71] Warren Cole Smith for the politically conservative World News Mag wrote: "Think Cool Hand Luke meets Pulp Fiction, with a touch of The Shawshank Redemption thrown in.
Negative reviews from critics focused on the film's violence, teenage anti-hero theme, and dark, tragic tone:[78][79] The New York Times critic Jeannette Catsoulis writes that Coldwater was "Punishing" and "Proceeding in a tone of unrelieved misery ... full of scenes of unremitting brutality and sadism, as the thuggish guards set about transforming their charges into model citizens."
She went on to say that this "brutal tale of juvenile lockup" with its "cramped hellhole of Darwinian violence" is "too unvaryingly grim to draw us in, unfolding with hardly a moment of warmth or human connection."
"[80] Variety's Top critic Peter Debruge called Coldwater an "indignant expose" with "shower scenes and sweaty young delinquents aplenty."
"[81] Slant Magazine's Elise Nakhnikian criticizes the film's choice to root its perspective with the adolescent inmates: "There's a certain kind of fantasy, appealing to teenagers, that involves imagining yourself in a situation harsh enough to justify the alienation and rage flooding your soul.
Indignant herself, she awarded the film only one star for what she called "its melodramatic mixture of grandiosity and powerlessness to its view of the world as a torture-chamber crucible for an angry young man who has to grow up too fast.
The Hollywood Reporter's Top critic John DeFore's positive review of Coldwater said: "Affecting drama exposes a brutal real world phenomenon."
DeFore highlighted the mix of genre elements with social relevance, writing that Grashaw "and co-screenwriter Mark Penney introduce incidents that tie the story to prison films of the past, then gradually exploit the novelty of this setting, heightening the mood of isolation with glimpses of outside authorities who should be able to see what's going on here and intervene, but fail to in sometimes wrenching ways.
The script's dramatic finale is shockingly violent but just within the bounds of the credible, an eruption of justified rage that speaks for the real-world youths (dozens since 1980, according to closing titles) who have died in juvenile rehab centers the government refuses to monitor.
