Red State

Sometimes directors step out of their area of expertise to take on a new type of movie.  That is how I feel about Kevin Smith taking on the movie Red State.  He stepped out of his dialogue heavy comedic style to do a tense, dialogue driven horror/thriller.  I dare say he did a good job in this new area as well.

I wouldn’t chalk the whole movie up to Kevin Smith.  There were some great acting performances from almost all of the actors involved.  Melissa Leo and Michael Parks are standouts and should be considered for Oscar nominations.  I doubt they’ll be noticed though, as the Academy Awards almost never look at movies that lean towards horror.  There were a couple of notable performances that irritated me though.  Ralph Garman was supposed to seem like a threatening figure and didn’t quite pull the threatening aspect off, in my opinion.  Then there is Kevin Smith’s wife, who he just has to try and fit into so much of his work.  There’s just something about her that makes me sigh every time she’s on screen.  She doesn’t have the presence.  Those were, I think, the two weak points in an otherwise solid cast.

The direction of this movie has already been talked about in so many other places it is probably tiring.  All I’m going to say is that I’m kind of surprised that Kevin Smith had it in him.

There are a few twists and turns in this movie that I didn’t see coming, and the movie got me invested in the main characters.  Unpredictability!  I love unpredictability.  It keeps me excited.

As you can see, I have almost nothing to say about the movie.  I’m still in awe about what I saw.  The movie blew me away because I wasn’t expecting it.  I’d like to see Kevin Smith stretch his boundaries even more in the future.  I don’t have much to look forward to though, as it seems his main focus is shifting toward his podcasting network.  That’s too bad.

Anyway, give this movie a look see.  It might not be your style, and when you watch it you might not like the movie itself.  I won’t hold anything against you for that.  The least you could do is appreciate the challenge that Smith accepted while making this movie, and you could at least enjoy some of the performances.  Plus, I’m saying you should watch it.  Who wouldn’t take my endorsement?