COLD IN JULY **

When Richard Dane, (Michael C. Hall), shoots and kills a burglar his life, and that of his family, comes under threat from the dead man's father, (a grizzled and menacing-looking Sam Shepard), or so it would seem because Jim Mickle's excellent thriller "Cold in July" doesn't quite go in the direction we expect. It was adapted from a novel by Joe R. Lansdale but it could have come from Jim Thompson. It's also beautifully acted by Hall, Shepard and Don Johnson as a very unconventional private detective. It's certainly pulp fiction; it might have even been a B-Movie once upon a time, now given a high gloss finish. Very enjoyable, even if the violence may not be to everyone's taste.