DHP Guest Review: Andrew Klavan Recommends ‘Red’
Posted by Dirty Harry on Friday, August 29th, 2008
Dirty Harry has graciously allowed me some space here to recommend a film I think a lot of you might like. My pal Stephen Susco, who wrote the American version of “The Grudge,” has now moved on to something completely different and adapted the Jack Ketchum novel “Red” for the screen. The film opens tonight at the Music Hall in Beverly Hills. It’s a small picture, a real indie thriller, but very taut, moving, different and effective.
Brian Cox plays Avery Ludlow, a reclusive old guy who owns a small town general store. One day he goes down to the lake to fish with his beloved old dog Red. Three rich young punks stumble on the two. Mostly out of pure bullying meanness, one of the punks takes a shotgun to the mutt and kills him. Ludlow has tragedy in his past, and he’s looking for a meaning to his suffering and a sense that there’s justice in the world. So he goes to the father of two of the punks and politely asks that the boys be punished and made to feel sorry for what they’ve done. No good. The father’s just as much of a punk as the kids and refuses to do anything. Which leaves Ludlow to go on a patient, decent, methodical but relentless quest to give a dead dog his day.
Now, as I say, Stephen’s a pal and a colleague so I’d like to find some way to attack and undermine him, but I have to admit he did an excellent job here. The story’s fist-to-the-face opening takes hold of you immediately and the plot then progresses and escalates in plausible but increasingly startling stages to a shockingly violent but seemingly inevitable climax.
On top of which, the script gives some really fine actors some really fine parts and they do them more than justice. Cox’s performance is wonderfully rich and understated. And Tom Sizemore as the punks’ evil father makes a thoroughly realistic and reprehensible villain. Robert Englund only has a couple of scenes but really delivers on them. And Amanda Plummer, whom I often find mannered, is mannered but still very good.
But for me, the revelation of the piece is Noel Fisher, who plays the chief punk, Danny. Fisher’s done some small movie parts and a lot of TV work but I’ve never noticed him before. The second he came on screen here though, I thought he was something really special. I’ve known punks just like Danny and Fisher captures him perfectly. You can look in his eyes and see the kid feeling and thinking, a lost boy who yearns deep down for discipline but has been allowed to go out of control. It’s a beautiful performance and I hope it lands Fisher a lot more feature work.
Lest you think I’m just plugging a friend’s picture, the LA Times calls “Red” an “elegant and deceptively straight-forward dramatic thriller,” and says “Cox delivers a performance of real depth.” And the New York Observer says the film has “an understated passion that is unforgettable.”
It really is worth seeing: great performances, great plotting, excellent themes and values. “Red” is good stuff all around.
Filed in Movie Reviews |
Troyon 29 Aug 2008 at 2:33 pm 1I’ll have to check that out. I do like me some Brian Cox movies. And the picture of Fisher in that car makes me want to slug him right there. Good job and thanks for the tip.
Stephanieon 29 Aug 2008 at 2:40 pm 2I want to see it. I love Brian Cox but killing a dog? Um……this is gonna be very tough for me to watch.
David Marcoeon 29 Aug 2008 at 2:59 pm 3Sounds good. Have to give it a go.
Father Caligarion 29 Aug 2008 at 3:44 pm 4If the movie is anything like Ketchum’s books, it will be incredibly wrenching, but worth it.
Vincent Wongon 29 Aug 2008 at 5:45 pm 5Red’s trailer gave off strong conservative vibes and I knew then it would be a movie to watch.
Stephanieon 29 Aug 2008 at 6:24 pm 6I just cant though. I can’t see a dog get hurt.
Brooksieon 29 Aug 2008 at 6:45 pm 7Brian Cox is an actor’s actor, brilliant in anything he touches.
I’ll see this movie, but I just can’t stand it when an animal goes down, even knowing it’s only a movie.
Odd how you can tell yourself it’s only a movie when humans are getting mowed down and going through hell, but when someone looks cross-eyed at an animal, suddenly there is no fourth wall.
Michael Hutchisonon 29 Aug 2008 at 6:46 pm 8Anyone have a link to the trailer? “Red” is one of those almost-impossible titles to narrow down (like, oh, “24″).
Michael Hutchisonon 29 Aug 2008 at 6:57 pm 9OK, I managed to find it by Googling Red Trailer and Brian Cox.
Now I wish I hadn’t. It looks like an excellent film but this two minute trailer is one of the worst I’ve seen in a while. It gives away a LOT. Now that you have been warned: watch if you dare: http://www.rowthree.com/2008/07/17/brian-cox-takes-revenge-in-red-trailer/
Why do they make these trailers that give away the entire movie from beginning to a few minutes before the end?
Robert Zemeckis’ films from the year 2000 both had trailers that gave away critical spoilers. You find out Tom Hanks makes it back to civilization, and you find out the identity of the killer in the mystery film What Lies Beneath!
In this last year, we’ve had that suspense movie about the web site that kills people every time they log on to it (sorry I can’t remember the title, but I didn’t see it; it looked awesome, but the trailer gave it away for free) and Notes On a Scandal (which I bought for my wife, and then one of the other DVDs we bought played the trailer which spoils the whole thing!).
Zundfolgeon 29 Aug 2008 at 10:33 pm 10Lovely.
Mrs. Zundfolge and I have a common complaint about Hollywood films … most films have a “dog” in it … someone pure, sweet and innocent that gets killed by the baddies just to make SURE the audience realizes who’s bad, but not to really move the story forward. We find ourself watching movies going “ok, who’s gonna be the dog?”
When its ACTUALLY a dog, its even worse. Since the “murder” of a sweet and lovable dog is a key part of this one, I think I’ll skip it … no interest in watching dogs get killed or children get raped (no intention to draw a moral equivalence here).
Zundfolgeon 29 Aug 2008 at 10:43 pm 11Ok, I just watched the trailer and I fear this film is also going to go down another cliched road that the Mrs. and I despise.
The old “The badguys are uber-powerful and/or super lucky and/or ‘untouchable’ and get away with WAY more than normal people could EVER get away with until the very end.”
It probably ends with the predictable “good guy spares bad guys life so as to not become ‘just as bad’, then bad guy takes advantage of the mercy and tries to kill good guy forcing good guy to kill bad guy’.
I’m sure its well acted, well shot and well written, but again, I think I’ll pass.
You didn’t miss much, I stopped watching after the opening scene where the FBI agents are able to figure out exactly who a bad guy is (in another case, not the one the movie’s about) just by the fact that he legally owns guns. I don’t put up with that much of an insult.
Horace Wardon 02 Sep 2008 at 8:19 am 12You can watch Red on Time Warner In Demand in HD.
I did and truly enjoyed the movie.
JimmyCon 11 Dec 2008 at 8:36 am 13I finally watched this, and it was excellent. As a dog lover, the beginning was tough for me to watch (the death of the dog is mercifully kept offscreen, but it’s still clear what’s happening), but the way Cox’s character goes after revenge for his pooch makes it, dare I say, a movie for animal lovers everywhere.
The middle section of the film is absolutely fantastic, particularly Cox’s heartbreaking monologue about what happened to his family. And the acting, cinematography and plot pacing are all on par with any other movie this year. For a while there, I thought I was looking at a new classic.
Unfortunately, the last 10 minutes wrap things up in a disappointing way- it’s clear the ending wants to deal with the ethical consequences of Cox’s actions, but then the filmmakers do a complete 180 and give us an incredibly manipulative ending that is meant to tug at our heartstrings, but completely ignores the moral issues that the film had brought up. This is an excellent revenge film, and it deserved the ending of a revenge film, not the ending of a Disney film.