Red Right Hand

ONCE in a lifetime means I will only watch this movie ONCE in my lifetime. If I could take it back a couple of hours that number would be nonce in a lifetime.

All previous great respect for Andie MacDowell instantly destroyed.

The plot we have seen endlessly The characters (bad guys) were so over the top it seemed like every single one of them was on the high end of the psycho scale, with their tendancies for torture and their delight in the process.

They even throw in the compulsory gum chewing moron.

As we see again and again... a decent storyline ruined by delusions of grandeur from the director(s) It had promise to be a good movie... a bit of subtlety, a bit of realism, a whole lot less manure.

Red Right Hand is a suspense/crime/thriller which takes place in rural Kentucky and focuses on the decay of the rural American family due to an inability to scrape a decent living. The most ironic name goes to the main character, Cash (played by Orlando Bloom with a strong performance and a better Southern accent than I could hope to conjure) and his brother Wilder (Garret Dillahunt). Without deviating from the well tread formula that films like this normally take, it adds a few twists now and then.

First, there is the strong performance by the antagonist Big Cat (played by Andie MacDowell (who usually plays in comedies but nonetheless proves her mettle here in a villainous role). She quickly shows that she means business, and yet there is an unspecified history between Big Cat and Cash.

Another strong role is the daughter (played by newcomer Chapel Oaks) who convincingly shows her wisdom beyond that of the two men raising her throughout the film. She gives a strong sense of female independence and like nearly everyone in the film, knows a thing or two about guns.

Speaking of guns, Obama famously complained that rural America clung to its bibles and guns. That's true here too but I would add two more to the list (at least according to this movie): big rigs and farm animals.

Overall, it's an enjoyable story but not one you haven't seen before with a few exceptions.

7/10.

No pun intended - and don't take everything literally ... talking more to myself of course. Orlando Bloom is in this to start off with the obvious. And I reckon after Pirates it is tough to find something ... I think he is underrated as an actor ... and I wish he was able to be in more diverse projects. But this is kind of fun - well action and tense, but you know what I mean.

Low budget, but with a tight story and really good editing. Cinematography is good too - but we get used to that, even with movies that don't seem to have a large budget. That all said, it does deal with a few cliches, but nothing too off putting. The acting is at least decent to good ... if you like the story, you will have fun.

I guess acting is called acting for a reason but when Brits and Australians are acting as rednecks thugs it's almost laughable. The script is completely over the top and unbelievable and unfortunately the 2 hours you waste on this movie will never be returned to you. For the love of god is it too much to ask for an original story from Hollywood rather than the same old stories being regurgitated? I realize that the IQ level of the target audience for this movie is not very high blood lately the U. S. movie makers have been churning out nothing but diarrhea in terms of storytelling as well as acting.

RED RIGHT HAND is a film I rather enjoyed, unlike a lot of reviewers here. Its a very small scale, low budget feel kind of movie, set in one of those rural towns in the American Midwest where an unlikely kingpin holds sway over the population. Andie McDowell, who I've never rated as an actress, does a fair approximation of evil in this against-type role, while Orlando Bloom also goes against type as the redneck hero unwittingly drawn back into her criminal schemes. Dillahunt has a fine supporting role as the town's preacher. The plot's familiar but the action is well handled and the film is admirably gritty. The final shoot-out in particular impresses.