Thursday, September 08, 2011

Red State and Political Messages: A Movie Review


Director/writer: Kevin Smith.

Cast: Melissa Leo, and Michael Parks.

Red State is Kevin Smith's latest film and, according to him, his last. This title recently played in Canadian theatres for one night Friday, September 2nd. To release October 17th on DVD and Blu-Ray, the 17th anniversary of the production of his first film Clerks, Red State is a political film, that strangely has been called a horror film. There are few scares here, however. As well, Kevin Smith has marketed this film in a very different fashion, by taking the film on a multi-state travelling road show. The road trip began in March of this year and completed in April. This is a unique film, that plays with a message of anti-fundamentalism, but that message is not always clear in a hail of gunfire a la Waco, Texas.

Christian cultists begin the film with a protest of a recently deceased young man. This boy, a homosexual, was murdered in a dark alley. Let the politicking begin. Then, the story shifts to three horny teenagers looking to hook up with a beautiful girl in Cooper's Cove. That beautiful woman is actually twenty years older than the boys think and her refrigerator is full of cold, bubbly, drug laced liquid. The boys are knocked out cold. Then, they awaken in the midst of the cult as their next sacrifice to Jesus. Luckily, a group of ATF agents are called in to break up a very Wacoesque situation.

Smith seems to be poking fun at both religious fundamentalists and government agents at the same time. Both organizations look equally bizarre and driven for all the wrong reasons. Yet, Smith only offers a small light at the end of the tunnel through the character Joseph Keenan (John Goodman). This is one of the few characters to have common sense and his awareness of the dire situation e.g. trapped children, the government's intent to murder, is driving Smith's message of anti-religion or anti-fundamentalism home.

This is a complex movie with many characters and Smith seems to fall of the rails every so often; however, Red State is definitely taking an anti-Christian view on topics of homosexuality and on the closed nature of some parishes. Apparently, Smith did not like the religious protesters at the premiere of his previous film Dogma, which also had a religious message. He also paints the government as malicious and outside the law. The government is portrayed as violent and without constraints. Yet, this reviewer is not sure that Smith should retire on this film, as there is room for improvement here. To critique these organizations is great, but where is the solution? Smith does not seem to have a definitive message, outside of standing up for what is right. Keenan seems to be the only character willing to do what is right, while cultists and agents lie bloody across the Cooper compound. Smith could also be teasing a message in his very pro-socialist title for the film.

Red State is very political in nautre and the film has a unique perspective on American politics. Panned by most distributors e.g. The Weinstein Company, Red State is an adult film whose message is not always clear outside of a pro-homosexuality or pro-sexual expression theme. Strangely called a horror film by the director himself: "it's a nasty-ass $4mil horror flick with few (if any) redeeming characters," Red State is more dramatic thriller. Overall, this is a unique look at some of the totalitarian organizations (according to Smith) that inhabit North America, whose purpose is sometimes to control society and apparently, Smith does not like that.

Overall: 7 out of 10 (the message could have come through a little more clearly in the final frames, was there really a message?).

Another review of this film at DVD Talk:

Red State Reviewed by Jason Bailey

Some of the controversies surrounding the film's distribution can be found here:

Red State at Slash Film

 |  |  |  | 

Advertise Here - Contact me Michael Allen at 28DLA

Subscribe to 28 Days Later: An Analysis Email Subscription

0 comments: