Red State

The latest film from Kevin Smith, and a big change of gear from his usual, jokey offerings, this is a film that changes gear about every 20 minutes or so – starting as a teen comedy, then switching to what appears to be torture-horror, then switching again to some kind of siege movie, then again to something else by the end (I won’t spoil it).

It stars Michael Parks doing a fantastic job as a fire-and-brimstone preacher so radical that neo-nazis distance themselves from him. If you can’t place him, he did the great semi-monologue at the beginning of From Dusk Till Dawn as a sheriff.  The first half of the movie is terrific, with Parks taking centre stage, but unfortunately it goes off the rails somewhat as events escalate.  It’s still fine (there’s even an action sequence that very well executed – which I am surprised Smith could pull off).

Also starring is the always-solid John Goodman as a weary, troubled G-Man brought in to handle the situation, but ordered to handle it in a way he doesn’t want to go.

It’s flawed – for one, we have no central character spanning the movie that we can sympathise with – Goodman doesn’t show up until about half-way-through – and the resolution is a little kooky – but somewhat amusing.

If it had kept the pace of the first half, and avoided the pure-exploitation route it seemed to be heading towards at the half-way point, this could have been a really great movie – maybe even a classic -but as it stands, it’s good and solid, and worth a watch.
OVERALL: 6.5/10
REWATCHABILITY: Every 5 years maybe
SUITABILITY: Strictly adults only