I’m not the biggest Kevin Smith fan, but I can honestly say, without equivocation, this film sucked. I’m probably gonna get a lot of guff from people for saying that, but if you truly believe this movie was worthy of your time, I pray for your soul.
RED STATE (2011)
Three high-school teens are lured to a trailer with the promise of sex, only to be kidnapped by religious extremists. Meanwhile the ATF are investigating the extremists for potential acts of terrorism. In the end both the ATF government agents and religious whack-jobs shoot it out, each trying to kill the other, with little regard for the hostages. Will the high-school teens be rescued?
Red State is an extremely disappointing film. It starts off promising, but plummets to earth in a fire storm of brimstone and other apocalyptic stuff. The script is so muddled it loses the point it’s trying to make. And the final ten minutes is excruciatingly anticlimactic, you’d be hard to find the most die-hard Smith fan take an exception to it. What I’m trying to say is, don’t waste your time with this drivel.
Three friends, Travis (Michael Argarano), Billy-Ray (Nicholas Braun), and Randy (Ronnie Connell) are duped into thinking they’re about to have a four-way with a middle-aged woman. Boy, are they wrong. They are drugged and kidnapped by Abin Cooper (Michael Parks) the leader of Coopers’, Five Point Trinity Church (an obvious dig at the reasonably unlikable Westboro Baptist Church). One by one they are to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. But Travis and Randy escape and interrupt their plans for an easy night of murder.
The first half of the film is your typical slasher/torture horror film. The tension is nicely held and there are some fine performances from the cast. Michael Parks is devilishly wicked as the preacher of 5 Point. However, Smith does tend to fall in love with Parks’ voice a bit too much and doesn’t know when to cut. I was enjoying the film up to this point. The film manages to hold the audience and you are hoping the horny teens find a way out. But then we cut to-
ATF Agent Joseph Keenan (John Goodman) is given the go ahead to breach the 5 Point Church as they believe they have terrorist intentions. Kill them all is the order, which means bad news for our three guys being held captive. A massive battle ensues and bodies start to hit the floor. Don’t get me wrong, John Goodman is great in the role, I mean, what a legend. But he doesn’t show up till much later in the film and now all of a sudden the movie turns into this action/thriller – albeit, a finally shot action/thriller. However, all of the previous built up tension is lost. It is obviously clear Smith didn’t know how to end the film.
Surprisingly, Travis, Billy-Ray, and Randy don’t survive. One is killed by a member of the church and the other two are coldly put down by the ATF agents. Orders are orders.
In between the chaos of bullets bouncing off things, we are subjected to a mini-story about one of the 5 Point members wanting to get the kids out. It’s a good moment but would have been more effective had she wanted to be free of the church, not just because they were under fire.
We just don’t care, no matter how well you make the children cry.
Then we come to the end. Trumpets sound and the rapture approaches. At least, that’s what Cooper and his followers believe. There is a moment when you actually believe the 4 Horseman of the Apocalypse are going to swoop down and destroy the world. Cooper walks up to Keenan and stares him the eyes, the trumpets still sounding. Here it comes, redemption for a week third act. Cut to-
Keenan describes to a bunch of suits how the trumpets were actually an elaborate prank by some college kids on the other side of the compound. He subdues Cooper and the other members of the church against orders. We are then shown Cooper in prison, preaching and singing, only to be told to, “shut the fuck up.” End Credits.
The amount of lost potential is staggering. This could have been a decent horror flick, nothing special, but entertaining to watch. Instead we are subjected to a sloppy script that doesn’t know where to go or what it is trying to express. It is well shot, and the first half of the film is good. But the second half offers very little but that of John Goodman.
Best Line: “I subdued the suspect… with a head butt.”
Best Moment: Travis and his attempted escape, only to be shot down by the local sheriff as he makes it out.
3/10
