Red State

So, a friend of mine won tickets to catch a screening of "Red State" followed by a Q&A session with Kevin Smith and the cast, which included Melissa Leo, John Goodman, and more. The show was at the stunning Radio City Music Hall, which felt strange considering the elegance of the venue when pitted against the griminess of the film. The film was wonderful. In Smith's own words, "A nasty-ass little horror flick with few (if any) likable characters". Three young men encounter a cult-like church (modeled after the ever-so-famous Westboro Baptist Church), whom they discover is up to more than simply protesting funerals. That's about as much as you need to know. This is easily Smith's best work to date. From a visual/directing standpoint, the camera is so effectively used to capture the unsettling tone. He makes an extensive use of the shaky-cam, which, but in more creative ways that I've seen in recent times. The shaking is definitely more subtle than say "the Bourne Identity", which adds just the perfect amount of tension during dialogue heavy scenes, and just the right intensity during the more violent ones. Both are which are in great quantities. The quality of the picture was also very good (shot of Red Cinema cameras). The sound is also a high point of praise. The real charm of the movie is its unsettling tone, which pervades throughout most of it. There is no real score here, either. Every song you hear is within the film itself, mostly sung by Michael Parks, the man playing the villainous preacher. And speaking of him, I must say that his performance was Oscar worthy. Absolutely terrifying. The writing itself might be where my few criticisms lie. The film has many twists, a few too many for my liking. These "surprises" impress a lot of people, but to me, they come off as cheap and make the film feel really inconsistent at times. Also, whereas the first half of the film is a genuinely frightening horror film, the second half feels most like an action/thriller. It was all very good, but only until the film nears its conclusion does it really feel scary again. But, the writing is also rather impressive. When I look back on it, nothing in the film feels superfluous, it all flows and connects greatly. The opening few scenes set the rest of the film up awesomely. And, of course, there's a small dose of humor in it, much of it compliments of Mr. JOHN F-ING GOODMAN. The Cast was all fantastic, but particularly Parks, Melissa Leo, and John Goodman come off as shining stars here. The Q&A was fun, mostly because I got to see such awesome people in person, but I never got to ask my question, and some of the questions asked were so bad they got boo's all around from the rest of the audience. All in all, when Red State hits theaters this October, you really need to see it. It's all around a wonderful piece of indie cinema, and will satisfy horror-fans, and casual movie goers alike. My rating, 8/10. I have every intention of seeing this again when it's actually released. P.S. Best Opening credit sequence ever!!!

I'm going to be honest with you: I've never watched a Kevin Smith film other than this one. Yes, go ahead, have problems with that. But that's not why we're here. I'm telling you this so you know that I had absolutely no expectations of this film coming in, other than that a friend of mine told me it was very thought-provoking.

And she was right.

I think "Red State" is an unappreciated gem of a film. Coming from the perspective of being fascinated with the Westboro Baptist Church, I especially got into it. If you don't know about the Westboro Baptist Church prior to watching the movie, you need to look them up. Because much of the film is based around a religious sect that is quite similar. In fact, Abin Cooper (brilliantly played by Michael Parks) gives a sermon in the film that essentially quotes the WBC's beliefs verbatim. It's hard to believe that people can actually believe this stuff--but they do. And that is what makes this story truly frightening. My favorite horrors are based enough in reality to be believable--as a matter of fact, I think something MUST be believable in order for it to be scary. "Red State" is not scary because it has monsters or buckets of gore. It is scary because it is probable: there is nothing more frightening than the terrible things human beings are capable of doing if they choose to.

In reading other reviews, I have noticed that many people criticized "Red State" for being all over the place or inconsistent. I didn't see that at all. Frankly, I appreciated the Coen-brothers-esque comedic breaks. John Goodman, especially, brought up some fond memories of "The Big Lebowski"-type humor. But I never felt that these breaks took away from the film or made it any less compelling.

Another note, and I mentioned this before with Michael Parks, is that I thought the acting in "Red State" verged on superb. Parks' performance as pastor Abin Cooper was spot-on, and the rest of the cast followed suit. The story was put together well, with a nice but brief intro and a plot that never felt too forced. I was pleasantly surprised at the way the story was wrapped up, too, even though it probably wouldn't count as a typical "happy ending." But stories like this don't typically have those anyway, do they?

To sum up: I wasn't expecting a lot from this movie. Negative reviews gave me low expectations. But, as usual, my curiosity got the best of me and I couldn't help but check it out for myself. "Red State" is a movie that I can genuinely say pleasantly surprised me. It is a little off the beaten path, slightly unorthodox, and subtly disturbing. But I loved it.

OK, so as part of Kevin Smith's guerrilla marketing campaign for this movie, it aired on PPV in the US last night. That means that it was on the torrentnet this morning, and as a result I got to watch it in Europe tonight. I'm still reeling from the experience.

I mean, we are talking Kevin Smith, king of the slacker movies, but at the same time the creator of one of the most intelligent and well-done movies about religion ever made, "Dogma." I have seen every one of Kevin Smith's films, some of them multiple times. But as much as I like the guy, I've never found myself asking, "What would happen if this guy decided to step away from the slacker comedy and make a serious movie -- a horror movie about America, as he sees it?" I never saw this movie coming.

"Red State" is at its heart a horror movie. It starts by playing to horror movie conventions. Three teenaged guys, off for a night of fun in a neighboring Southern town, follow an Internet ad promising them a three-way with a willing older woman, and as a result wander into the WRONG Southern town. This town is the home of a Chrisschun religious cult, and they placed the ad. Try to imagine what the gay-hating and sex-hating Westboro Baptist Church would be like if they decided to take God's Law into their own hands and start killing the sinners themselves. Then try to imagine the situation escalating into a machine-gun-fire standoff with the ATF. What makes this such a good horror movie is that the horror could actually happen in the US. Everything about this movie is shocking *because it could actually happen*.

Kevin Smith is a closet politco. Who knew? This is a very, very, very powerful movie, about the hell that the United States of America has descended into post-9/11. It is SO not a comedy, although it contains very funny moments, and it is SO not for the faint-hearted, or for those who lean heavily to the right politically, or who believe that doing so is synonymous with leaning to the Right. God's Right.

With this film, Kevin Smith has risen to the top of my list of People I Most Want To Share Two Too Many Beers With Just So I Can Talk With Them.

I know, there are many directing flaws here, particularly with the overly long preaching sermons given by the lunatic pastor in this story, but the story itself does bear some credence. The casting was well chosen, and they certainly lived up to the characters they portrayed.

The one take away comment I'll offer at this juncture is that this film is truly terrifying, is definitely not for the faint of heart, not because of excessive gratuitous violence and such, which there really is not that much of, but in the depiction of the scenario, culture and characters that are represented.

I have seen and met, first hand, lunatic nut case religious fanatics, which almost perfectly match what is presented in Red State, because I have traveled through and have spent some time in "red state" areas. As far as I'm concerned, this film has captured exactly what these types of areas and fanatical religious entities are like. Trust me on this one . . . been there, done that.

Maybe this entire film seems too over the top cliché', stereotypical over dramatization and simplistic rendering of this type of culture and its purveyors of bigotry and hate, but before one makes too hasty an evaluation along such lines, I would suggest you have not seen what I have.

Just for reference, I am not gay, and this is not what my commentary is about. My commentary is oriented toward the predatory social pathology of fanatical extremist religion, an unfortunately all too common form of a serious mental disorder with often horrific consequences which can be witnessed here, in the USA to this very day, in the 21st century.

As for other reviews here, yes there are flaws, and given the opportunity that this story could have provided for a truly great film, yes, it did fall a bit short. Having said that, however, this was not an overtly bad film either, and considering what is portrayed and how it was presented, I still grant Red State a fairly high rating.

There have certainly been far worse films with completely absurd, irrelevant stories which have received rave reviews, so I would advise a bit of caution in how some of the other reviews here should be taken.

Given all that . . . 7 stars for Red State

Kevin Smith breaks away from his comedic roots to direct and write this religious/political/bigot baiter that lurches from Hostel type madness into a siege of the damned. Starring Melissa Leo, Michael Parks, John Goodman, Michael Angarano, Kerry Bishe and Nicholas Braun, story finds Parks heading up a Christian cult that lures horny youngsters to their place of worship on the promise of sex with an older woman. Of course once the lads get there it's not long before the truth of the lure is revealed and we are treated to hate spiel by sermon and some unpleasantness from the production code edition of the torture porn play book.

Red State is an infuriating movie in many ways, but it is never dull and it always remains challenging, even if some of Smith's sermonising agendas lack cohesion entering the final third of the piece. In fact there are three tonal shifts that don't make an altogether appetising whole, Smith straining to bridge the gap between satire and horror – cum – thriller. And sadly the climax to all the damaged threads is very anti-climatic. On the major plus side is a cast doing fine work, headed by Goodman, Leo and Parks, the latter getting to play lead dog for a change. It's impressively shot by Dave Klein and Smith shows flickers of there being a good director in the mix.

Poor box office and bad reviews upon release inevitably got it tarnished as a bad film. In truth it's a fascinating failure, but it has merits enough to warrant time spent with it. From Westboro to Waco, stopping briefly for a night in a Hostel, Red State is not easily forgotten once sampled. For better or worse. 6/10