Red State

Starring: Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo

Synopsis:

Set in Middle America , a group of teens receive an online invitation for sex, though they soon encounter fundamentalists with a much more sinister agenda.

I was a fan of Kevin Smith’s movies up until Jersey Girl, and then I tuned out, so I was hoping for something a lot different with Red State . I’m not really sure what genre it belongs in. It starts a little like Hostel and then ends up being like Butch and Sundance with a conspiratorial slant to it. The movie actually begins with banter from three high school kids using dialogue that you’d expect from Kevin Smith; hung up on teen sexuality and crudeness. It isn’t big and it isn’t clever, so when Melissa Leo enters the frame, the movie begins to twist into what we perceive it is going to be throughout; a survival horror. As soon as the kids shut up, the movie gets interesting. The first “twist” is that it isn’t a survival horror. The trouble is we never really get an idea of exactly what Smith is trying to produce.

Personally, I don’t give a toss about pigeon-holing movies into neat compartments but I can see the need from a distributor’s perspective. I think of it as a satirical black comedy, with action. It’s certainly not a horror movie.

Red State is basically Kevin Smith trying his hardest to be Quentin Tarantino and this is no bad thing; for the most part he does an excellent job. It helps that he cast Michael Parks, who is a favourite of QT and Robert Rodriguez. Parks gets to deliver some great monologues that would make both Shakespeare and QT proud, as Pastor Abin Cooper. His presence alone, suggests the movie is an unofficial part of the Grindhouse movies, following Machete and Hobo With a Shotgun. The situations in the movie certainly suggest it, along with the violence and crudeness of the characters. Incidentally, there is no character worth rooting for in this movie. I didn’t find it a problem. Pastor Cooper is suitably creepy and “evil” just because of what he does to people. His flock is scary in their worship of him and his ideals, but as they’re all pretty much family, it’s not a stretch to believe it. What would scare me most, in reality, are those who think that Cooper is right in what he believes in. I think Smith was aware of this when drafting the screenplay. After all, the church appears to be based upon American Christian fundamental groups.

Ever since Dogma graced our screens with its irreverent take on Catholicism, we’ve known that Smith has a thing against organised religion; something that I share. Dogma was an obvious balls-out comedy, Red State is a more serious affair but littered with comedic situations and dialogue in its delivery of the satirical components. Parks description of what evidence he has on the local Sheriff is an example of this. Smith overtly sends up both niche religions and the police/FBI handling of sieges in Texas .

The cast is, on the whole, excellent, with Melissa Leo and Michael Parks getting some great dialogue, and opportunities to shine. The direction is competent. Smith creates some nice tension in this movie but sacrifices it at times for the overall movie’s themes. The scenes where the high school kids attempt an escape is particularly well done and when you learn and figure out that no character is safe, a different tension sets in. The twist near the end of the story is almost homage to Joss Whedon; the revelation of which is both funny and a letdown because it would have been a stunning (and probably expensive) finale.

Summary:

There was more right than wrong in Red State, for me. The acting was very good; the pacing was spot on; the twists welcome and interesting. The lack of score worked in its favour. Whilst not giving it much of a documentary feel (even if that was the intention) the atmosphere is rightly generated from the events, not a score telling us what and how to feel. I like a good music score but it might have hindered this production.

Kevin Smith has matured as a filmmaker. Red State is evidence that a great movie is inside the writer/director and I do hope he gets the chance to fully realise it.

8 out of 10 (Wayfarer)

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