Last week, Melissa Leo said "f---" on the Oscars and was bleeped out for it. Wanna see her doing something worse, like being a bad-ass conservative and shooting up feds? (What? You thought the phrases "Melissa Leo" and "bad-ass conservative" didn't belong together?) Well, luckily, you get to see it in Red State. Yeah, Red State is a crazy movie and there's simply no other way to put it. Although I haven't seen all of his films, Kevin Smith's newest movie must be his most risky one to date. Sometimes, risks in movies aren't worth it; they're usually just dismissed as being pretentious. Don't let this one fall to the wayside. It's something well- worth seeing.
So, a summary. Well, that's not so easy when Red State is a genre-bender. The film can be divided in to three parts: a teen sex comedy, a psychological torture porn, and a bloody action-filled shootout. Basically, three horny teenagers discover a website that they call the "Craigslist of porn." The boys find a middle-aged woman (Melissa Leo) who lives in a town close to theirs on the site, and, on a fateful Friday night, arrange to have sex with her. When they get to her beat-up trailer, she drugs them and brings them to the ultra-conservative Five Points Church, where they are covered in saran wrap and forced to endure a sermon the ends in someone's death. What happens from there on is something you'd have to see to believe. All I'll say that it's disturbing, darkly funny, and f--ked-up. And by the end, you'll honestly say to yourself, "What the f--- is going on?"
When the news came out about Kevin Smith (the writer-director of Clerks and Chasing Amy) doing a horror movie, people were surprised and scared of what a mistake it could be. I'm pleased to say that they were wrong. Red State carries on with Smith's great reputation as a writer. Not only is the film incredibly witty in parts, but it also takes the audience out of their own comfort zone by taking horror movie clichés and turning them on their heads. I won't give specific examples, but there are many characters who die without any warning, sometimes ones that you think are going to turn out to be the heroes in the end. But no, Kevin Smith loves f--king with us, so naturally, Red State is like a roller-coaster ride that just never stops.
The best and certainly most risky part of the film is a 15-minute sermon that lasts for most of the second act. Michael Parks plays the leader of the church in this scene and he gives one hell of a performance. As evidenced by Inglourious Basterds, it is possible to pull off extremely long sequences of dialogue, but you have to get good actors to back it up. And Smith couldn't have gotten someone better to do it. Parks' performance is incredibly tense and creepy.
And Parks isn't the only great performance in Red State. Melissa Leo, who is now riding on the success of winning an Oscar for The Fighter, gives an insanely good performance as a conservative who's ready to kill when her husband gets shot in an accident involving the hostages. Leo plays her role with an emotional intensity rarely ever seen on film. There are parts of the movie where her performance feels too real, like her character could actually exist. But I haven't even discussed John Goodman. Goodman, who is famous for saying "Shut the f--- up, Donny!" in The Big Lebowski, surprises with his acerbically witty performance. At one moment, he pulls of seriousness and in the next, he pulls of Smith's dry sense of humor. The younger actors of the film, whose names I wish I knew, are also worth noting, for they have a future in film.
Smith's direction is never nearly as risky as his script, and that is the one area where Red State falls slightly short. With such strong writing, one might expect a more memorable directing job. Shot with RED (fitting, huh?) digital cameras, the film feels a little too jumpy at times. Sometimes, this works very well for the film, but at others, it just makes it feel unnecessarily frantic. Nevertheless, it's an interesting cinematic exercise.
As you may have imagined, the film also has its political implications. I don't necessarily agree with them , but they also took away from the experience. Smith is known for his brazen and fearless fits of political rage, but there is no reason why they should end up in his movies.
Did you read that far? Wow, you must really respect my opinion! In short, Red State is the kind of film that could have only succeeded when it was directed by a certain person, and that person was Kevin Smith. His violent and often brutal story is unlike I've ever seen before. The acting is just great; it's unlikely that you'll ever see acting this good in a horror movie again. Red State is that rare kind of movie that breaks the mold by changing its genre three times, which is just one of its spectacular oddities. It's unlikely that something like Red State will ever happen again. B+
So, a summary. Well, that's not so easy when Red State is a genre-bender. The film can be divided in to three parts: a teen sex comedy, a psychological torture porn, and a bloody action-filled shootout. Basically, three horny teenagers discover a website that they call the "Craigslist of porn." The boys find a middle-aged woman (Melissa Leo) who lives in a town close to theirs on the site, and, on a fateful Friday night, arrange to have sex with her. When they get to her beat-up trailer, she drugs them and brings them to the ultra-conservative Five Points Church, where they are covered in saran wrap and forced to endure a sermon the ends in someone's death. What happens from there on is something you'd have to see to believe. All I'll say that it's disturbing, darkly funny, and f--ked-up. And by the end, you'll honestly say to yourself, "What the f--- is going on?"
When the news came out about Kevin Smith (the writer-director of Clerks and Chasing Amy) doing a horror movie, people were surprised and scared of what a mistake it could be. I'm pleased to say that they were wrong. Red State carries on with Smith's great reputation as a writer. Not only is the film incredibly witty in parts, but it also takes the audience out of their own comfort zone by taking horror movie clichés and turning them on their heads. I won't give specific examples, but there are many characters who die without any warning, sometimes ones that you think are going to turn out to be the heroes in the end. But no, Kevin Smith loves f--king with us, so naturally, Red State is like a roller-coaster ride that just never stops.
The best and certainly most risky part of the film is a 15-minute sermon that lasts for most of the second act. Michael Parks plays the leader of the church in this scene and he gives one hell of a performance. As evidenced by Inglourious Basterds, it is possible to pull off extremely long sequences of dialogue, but you have to get good actors to back it up. And Smith couldn't have gotten someone better to do it. Parks' performance is incredibly tense and creepy.
And Parks isn't the only great performance in Red State. Melissa Leo, who is now riding on the success of winning an Oscar for The Fighter, gives an insanely good performance as a conservative who's ready to kill when her husband gets shot in an accident involving the hostages. Leo plays her role with an emotional intensity rarely ever seen on film. There are parts of the movie where her performance feels too real, like her character could actually exist. But I haven't even discussed John Goodman. Goodman, who is famous for saying "Shut the f--- up, Donny!" in The Big Lebowski, surprises with his acerbically witty performance. At one moment, he pulls of seriousness and in the next, he pulls of Smith's dry sense of humor. The younger actors of the film, whose names I wish I knew, are also worth noting, for they have a future in film.
Smith's direction is never nearly as risky as his script, and that is the one area where Red State falls slightly short. With such strong writing, one might expect a more memorable directing job. Shot with RED (fitting, huh?) digital cameras, the film feels a little too jumpy at times. Sometimes, this works very well for the film, but at others, it just makes it feel unnecessarily frantic. Nevertheless, it's an interesting cinematic exercise.
As you may have imagined, the film also has its political implications. I don't necessarily agree with them , but they also took away from the experience. Smith is known for his brazen and fearless fits of political rage, but there is no reason why they should end up in his movies.
Did you read that far? Wow, you must really respect my opinion! In short, Red State is the kind of film that could have only succeeded when it was directed by a certain person, and that person was Kevin Smith. His violent and often brutal story is unlike I've ever seen before. The acting is just great; it's unlikely that you'll ever see acting this good in a horror movie again. Red State is that rare kind of movie that breaks the mold by changing its genre three times, which is just one of its spectacular oddities. It's unlikely that something like Red State will ever happen again. B+