Coldwater: Teen Boot Camp Movie Is Unforgettable

review-coldwater-e1363491070653Coldwater is one of those movies that opens your eyes, and to a World that you may not have been aware of, but chances are your friends were.

I realized that when I was explaining it to friends. One said “it’s about teen boot camps? That’s where they come and get you early in the morning and it’s a surprise. I had a friend go through that.” And in another conversation, it turned out someone I’ve been acquainted with for years had went off and started their own version of Coldwater. I didn’t have a feel for what that meant until I saw Vincent Grashaw’s film (co-written with Mark Penney) – and then I got angry.

If you’re at all human, Coldwater will just plain piss you off. The movie stars
P.J. Boudousqué and James C. Burns as Brad Lunders and Colonel Frank Reichert respectively. It’s a decent into hell.

Without giving too much away, what happens to the teens in Coldwater makes its ending logical. It also will make you ask some basic questions, like “Why aren’t facilities like Coldwater under Federal regulations like adult prisons, which is what they are, for all practical purposes. I’d go a step further and outlaw any business operation like Coldwater. If a parent feels the need to do that to their child, their parenting license should be revoked.

Which brings me to the long overdue need for parenting licenses to start with.

If you’re wondering how Coldwater came to be, here’s my initial interview with writer / director Vincent Grashaw:

See Coldwater, then call your congressperson.

Stay tuned.

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