It is a
film full of surprises and, as such, it is difficult to go into much detail
without spoiling some of them. So, I'll refrain from giving away any more of the
plot than you can gather from the trailer (
http://coopersdell.com/, where you can also watch it on demand
if you like).
The basic gist: Three high school boys arrange to meet a
woman for sex and find themselves being held hostage by a local Church cult who
are waging a private war on sinners. As the situation escalates the local
police, and then the ATF, lay siege to the church's compound before a bloody
battle commences and bodies start piling up.
It is not the first time
that Smith has tackled the subject of religion, having already crossed that line
with "Dogma" over a decade ago, but while his previous films have largely
consisted of dick and fart jokes with a couple of serious issues tacked on, "Red
State" is a far more serious film... with a couple of dick jokes tacked on for
the benefit of his fans. There are moments early in the film, when the boys are
talking about Internet hook-ups and getting laid, where you could imagine a
Porky's for a new generation - but when the drugs kick in and the boys black out
you know that you're in for a completely different film.
Of course, it's
not a complete surprise (especially if you've seen the trailer). It's
foreshadowed by the cult's picketing of a gay man's funeral, and by a classroom
discussion of the first two amendments - the right to free speech... and the
right to bare arms. Possibly even more so than either is the new visual style
that Smith has adopted for this film. Whereas earlier films have been
cartoonishly vibrant, colourful, larger-than-life affairs, here everything looks
grainy and the (presumably) hand held camera helps give the look and feel of a
documentary rather than a movie. It is this gritty, naturalistic look that helps
make things disconcerting. Everything is almost too real and it's easy to
believe that this kind of thing could actually happen.
Especially as it
totally could.
The Cooper family that forms the cult are an exaggerated
parody of the Phelps family that make up the Westboro Baptist Church. The siege,
and consequent storming of the compound, is reminiscent of the Waco siege of the
early '90's. In post 9/11 America, where right wing Christians are perfectly
capable of putting the mental into fundamental, there are people who would
rather pick up a gun and kill non-believers (be they pro-choice, promiscuous,
gay or Muslim) and some areas are literally powder-kegs waiting to go off. Good
men can do bad things and get rewarded for it. Senseless death is sudden, brutal
and its victims go unmourned. At least, it's easy to believe all this having
watched "Red State."
So is it a good film? Well, yes... and no.
On
the plus side, there is some superb acting, particularly from Michael Parks and
John Goodman. The sense of reality really does draw you into the film so that
you're not just suspending your disbelief, you're tossing it off a bridge
without a bungee cord. At the same time, Kevin Smith is experimenting with some
interesting visuals, something that was sadly lacking from Cop Out. Having
previously been famous for fairly static camera set-ups and avoiding action
sequences (all the action in Dogma happened off-screen). Here the cameras move
around and push us into the middle of the battlefield, with little nods to
directors like Sam Raimi and Robert Rodriguez here and there. And it is paced so
well (in most parts) that it actually felt like I was watching a short film
instead of the 90 minute movie I'd been expecting.
On the negative side,
there are still moments where Smith trademark dialogue regains control and
characters wind up telling us, rather than showing us, what's going on with
fairly heavy exposition. And, while funny in Smith's typically vulgar way, some
of the lines of dialogue jar because they seem too ViewAskiewy and not from the
reality that is presented here. Having said that, in the Q&A afterwards,
Kevin Smith admitted that he deliberately went out of his way to employ "bad"
techniques as a way of digging at the kind of artsy fartsy film students who are
constantly accusing him of not actually having a technique. He also said that he
wanted to confound expectations and make sure that no one was capable of
guessing what was going to happen next, that he wanted to set up one situation
then blindside you with an outcome other than the obvious. And that he managed
to accomplish perfectly.
The sad thing is, this is going to be Kevin
Smith's penultimate film. After he's finished his next movie (which will
actually be a two parter, like "Kill Bill" or the last Harry Potter) he is
retiring from movie-making. The shame is, now that he's once again passionate
about the films he's making and not just taking care of business, there is a
refreshing energy to his work that has been missed from some of his more recent
films. If it means that he goes out on a high then I can't wait for "Hit
Somebody." But I suspect his fans around the world will watch the movie and be
saddened at the end of an era.
88 min - Horror | Thriller - 30th September 2011 (UK)
