Red State

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.

Kevin Smith's first non-comedy film is a loose actiony horror parable about an extreme right wing Baptist Christian cult, who kidnap and sacrifice "sinners" as part of their services and three young idiots who are tricked into their clutches. A minor traffic accident on their way to the rendezvous inadvertently escalates until eventually it brings an ATF squad to the pastor's compound, but will they be in time to save the trio.

Central to "Red State"s appeal is a towering performance from the late Michael Parks, as Pastor Cooper, the devout head of the family church. He's charismatic and magnetic, despite the warped beliefs he holds and has engendered in his flock. His performance adds a credibility to the idea that his congregation would murder at his behest. The rest of the cast is full of recognisable faces, Anna Gunn and Matt Jones from "Breaking Bad" have small roles. Michael Park's son James appears, as does Stephen Root, Kevin Alejandro, Kevin Pollock and Patrick Fischler. If there is a weakness to the cast, it's probably in the three boys who make the poor choice to meet an older woman at a quiet trailer park. Kyle Gallner, as Jarrod, makes the most of his role as the defacto leader of this group, but the other two boys are perhaps a little underwritten and making us care more for them might have made their scenes of peril resonate more.

Smith's scriptwriting, despite veering away from comedy, remains his greatest strength. Dialogue remains sparky, and relationships (such as between John Goodman's ATF agent and his wife, his unnamed boss on the other end of the phone and his increasingly distressed on site team) feel realistic. Where it fails is the other great criticism that dogs Smith, the action scenes that make up the final third of the film are pedestrian and repetitive and drag on until we reach a truly surprising conclusion. I can't decide even now if I'd have preferred the hinted at ending to have been the truth, or the one we get, but it's a memorable ending.

It was brave of Kevin Smith to make a move so far outside his wheelhouse and he deserves credit for it, even if the result is a bit flawed.

This action-horror film changes directions about once every 15 minutes. On the whole, I enjoyed it.

The downside is that every twist kills the momentum. There's not much continuity, and the last five minutes or so are quite arbitrary. I was expecting something to tie it together at the end, but there was nothing like that.

It's never dull. Instead of a gradual build up, this film dives into the action fairly quickly and never slows down. I enjoyed it as a way to burn a few brain cells.

...I have to write more lines to get this review to post. There's a bit of classic Kevin Smith dialogue at the beginning. It's nothing brilliant, but it's fun.

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

OK. So after reading the other reviews and deciding to watch this based on the positive reports, I feel compelled to offer a more realistic review.

First of all, this is not the masterpiece it's made out to be. A lot of Kevin Smith fanboys seem reluctant to give him a bad review.

So here we go, it's a bit of a mess really. It seems to be getting a lot of praise for switching genres but honestly, it just comes across as confused. Yes, the performances are pretty good and some of the camera work is exceptional (the escape/chase scene is noteworthy) but overall it's almost like three films in one. This might sound like a good thing but not the way it's presented here.

And as for everybody trying to get clever over the title, the meaning is pretty clear to me. It refers to both the political and the government angle that the authorities can lock any suspected terrorist up for an indefinite time. A la communist/red states.

Overall, some good performances, memorable dialogue and decent cinematography fail to save this confused mess.