Writer: Kevin Smith
Starring: Michael Parks, John Goodman, Kyle Gallner, Micheal Angarano,
Nicholas Braun and Stephen Root
Distrubuted by: Smodcast Pictures
Website: http://www.coopersdell.com/
Filmmaker Kevin Smith rolled into Boston Sunday night and brought with him a little flick called Red State. Since the movie premiered at Sundance in January there has been a lot of chatter regarding Red State, some positive, some negative, some things I agree with and some things I don't. One thing that anyone has to admit is that all of this talk has generated a whole heap of buzz for the flick and that is really the whole point of the Red State U.S.A Tour. A word of mouth tour targeted at Smith's audience, designed to get them into the seats, show them the flick and then send them out into the world to talk about it. Smith himself said he doesn't care how you talk about the movie, whether you love it or hate it just talk about it and if last night is anything to go by it seems to be working. Admittedly forking out for a ticket on the tour set me back around 7 times more than a regular movie ticket would and there are a lot of people out there crowing about that fact. I think when you take into account the fact that the movie is introduced by the dude who wrote and directed it, then he sat in the audience to watch the flick with his audience and came right back out on the stage after to do a QnA session. It all adds up to a unique experience that you are unlikely to find anywhere else and, for me at least, was worth every penny. Honestly it is, check it out for yourself, tickets are still on sale at http://www.coopersdell.com/ you won't regret it.
The big question? Is the movie any good? Is it worth all the hoopla and furor that has surrounded it since the announcement to self distribute was made? Well, yeah it is, it's freaking awesome! Red State is the kinda movie that defies classification, people have been calling it a horror movie but that seems to be more of an easy out than anything else. Sure Red State contains elements of horror, especially in the first act but it's more suspense than shock horror. In addition to that there are also elements of drama, action and healthy dose of Smith'a trademark witty comedy. All of it combines to present a neat little package that is unlike anything that has come before it this year and maybe anything that will follow it. OK so with that out of the way let's talk a little bit more about the movie itself, if you want to avoid any and all spoilers then skip the next 3 paragraphs and read on for some more reaction to the movie and Kev's QnA.
**SPOILER** **SPOILER**
The movie opens with the introduction of what I would call the first act protagonist's, the three high school kids, and the main villains of the piece, Abin Cooper (Michael Parks) and the Five Points Trinity Church. They guys, Jared (Kyle Gallner), Travis (Michael Angarano) and Billy Ray (Nicholas Braun), are in pursuit of the high school boy holy grail, sex.To that end they decide to answer an online ad from a women who say's she is willing to take all three of them on at once. That night the boys jump into Travis' parents car and set off for Coopers Dell (red flag number 1?) on the way they get into an unfortunate, and at the same time fortuitous as it sets up the whole third act, car accident. Which they shrug off and carry on their way. When they get to their lady of the nights trailer she offers them beer, open beer, and insists they drink two of them before the action starts (red flag number 2? these boys need a visit from Ranger Danger or some shit). There is some great dialogue in this opening set up, from the class room discussion of the five pointers to the guys discussing the logistics of a three way. It's sharp, witty and genuinely funny, enough to lull you in so Smith can slap you in the face with a truly disturbing image of Jared walking up in a cage some five minutes later. Gallner put's on a fantastic performance there and the way it's shot coupled with his desperation makes it pretty fucking terrifying.
When we finally get to see his captors we meet Pastor Abin Cooper in the flesh as he delivers a sermon to his flock/family, interspersed with a little homosexual murder and some singing. Yes they are that 'nuckin futs'. Among the 'five pointers' are Sarah (Melissa Leo), Caleb (Ralph Garman), Cheyenne (Kerry Bishe) and Mordechai (James Parks). Things start to go a little downhill as they shrink wrap Jared to the cross, turns out the car they side swiped belonged to the Sheriff (Stephen Root) and he sent his deputy out to find it Abin goes out to deal with him while at the same time Billy Ray manages to get free and takes off. There are some great dynamic camera shots as he is running through the building trying to find a way out with Caleb and Mordechai hot on his heels. He finally finds an open door, granted it's a dead end but when the lights flicker on he get's a pretty nice surprise, one that got a nice pop from the crowd at The Wilbur. In the ensuing melee shots are fired that the deputy hears and as he calls it into the sheriff he gets a shotgun blast to the stomach courtesy of Mordechai. Cooper threatens to expose the Sheriff homosexual leanings to his wife and the news papers unless he leaves them be.
Lucky for us he does the right thing, enter ATF Special Agent Keenan (John Goodman). Keenan is introduced in a great one shot scene broken up by what amounted to both a red herring and an unintentional Clerks homage. When they get to Coopers Dell it's everyman for himself in an all out war or 'Church Vs State' as Smith called it. This is where Kev really just starts to fuck with you and takes out people right an left, gives you little bit of humanity to hold onto than yanks it away like it's the last fucking jelly in the box and it's awesome. Just when you think you know what's coming pretty much the exact opposite happens. That's the 3rd act in a nutshell it's balls to the wall with a great twist at the end.
**END SPOILER** **END SPOILER**
Technically speaking for a movie shot on such a low budget it looks fantastic, Dave Klein did a great job with the Red camera's and even the dynamic action shots look sweet. Now some people may complain a little about the sound, but that was definitely a venue issue, the bass was turned up a little high and the some of the dialogue was lost in the reverb. One example of this is during the sermon scene, some of Park's dialogue was lost, but anyone who listens to the podcasts has heard a clip of that sermon on the commercial for the Red State Tour and it sounds perfect. I have every confidence that when the movie goes wide there will be no problems at all. Kevin Smith has talked a lot about the flick being a group effort and his semi-hands off directing style so I won't talk too much about that but let's talk about the writing. Yes this is far and away the most different and unique flick Smith has ever written but his trademark wit and humor still shows at every turn. He even manages to sneak one of his famous monologues in there in the form of Cooper's meandering sermon. You can also tell how much his script has been tightened up, there is almost no wasted dialogue every line of dialogue feels like it needs to be there it all just pops.
The performances from everyone involved is just off the charts, Michel Parks is amazing he owns every scene he's in. This is what people will call the performance of a lifetime. He goes from sincere, to righteous, to crazy, to giddy without skipping a beat. It really is just a masterclass. The three guys, Gallner, Angarano and Braun, play their parts well. Gallner in particular during the cage scene is a treat to watch, you buy every second of it, he looks and sounds genuinely terrifying. It would be a crime to mention the performances and leave out Goodman, Dan Connor rocks this flick, simple as that. Goodman is the powerhouse that carries the majority of the dramatic beats in the third act on his shoulders and the final showdown between him and Parks is electrifying.
After the flick was over Kev took to the stage to answer some questions from the audience, it was definitely an interesting 90 minutes or so. Most of it taken up by the first question, answered in his trademark rambling style, ending with a boyish grin and a quick "I forget what your question was but that's the answer". The question was about the play of morality and immorality shown in the the flick, Red State is written in a very specific way, much like real life nothing is black and white. There is no real hero and Smith plays on that, he shows you a spark of humanity in any number of characters then snuffs it out either with a simple line or their actions. One of the thing's he said he found amusing was when someone came to him and said so Goodman is the hero right? His answer? Well not really, he's the guy that says he'll kill every man, woman and child in Coopers Dell if he get's a text message backing him up! Some of the other highlights of the QnA portion of the night where a cute story about Dave Klein's little girl Ivy, she plays one of the Cooper family kids, the one who is visibly terrified during a shot in the third act. Something that everyone felt awfully guilty about, but the shot got used because it's a great honest moment. Another was the great story about his late father and how he used to take him to a movie matinee every Wednesday when he was a kid, something he credits as one of the big motivating factors for him eventually becoming a filmmaker. An interesting question posed was what he thought about the cheers from the crowd when someone was killed off, I have to admit it was something I have never experienced before but Smith just said he didn't have much of an opinion either way he just found it interesting, although there was no reaction to Caleb biting it, apparently The Garmy was in attendance in SMoston. One of the things I really admire and respect about Smith is just how genuine he is, when he signed off for the night, thanked everyone for coming out and told us how much he appreciated the extra coin that people put on the line to come see his flick he was visibly moved. It's a nice thing to see a guy who is as invested in his audience as we are in him.
Red State is a great genre-mash-up flick. It's well written, amazingly acted and beautifully shot. Effortlessly mixing elements of horror, suspense, action and comedy. All that aside it must be good because even my wife dug it!
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