A Reel Review: RED

RED is a film that uses the appeal of old people kicking younger people’s asses. The old folk are assembled from a cast of acting heavyweights, and the young folk aren’t too light either. Set in the backdrop of CIA and political espionage, the film seemed to have the perfect recipe for a hit. Unfortunately for anyone who actually goes to sample this concoction, the ingredients were seemingly slapped together and not left in the pot long enough.

Former CIA black-op Frank (Bruce Willis) is enjoying retirement until a squad of assassins comes knocking on his suburban door with machine guns. After surviving the attack, Frank abducts his squeeze Sarah (Mary Louise-Parker) to protect her, and then employs the help of former colleagues Joe (Morgan Freeman), loopy Marvin (John Malkovitch) and Victoria (Helen Mirren) to figure out why he and his pals are being targeted. Along the way he must dodge the efforts of CIA-meanie William (Karl Urban) and tiptoe around a web of political backstabbing.

RED is a classic case of the sum of the parts being greater than the whole. While the characters are somewhat-great and backed up by great casting, the backdrop is lame and un-engaging; devoid of any depth or interest. The story ultimately belongs to Frank, but his tale and character gets lost amongst the carnage of things blowing up and people getting shot. His pals help keep things afloat, but RED never bothers to come up with a story worthy of the characters. Things feel confused here, as RED can’t decide whether to be an engaging buddy-buddy drama or silly camp.

Director Robert Schwentke seems to be intimidated by the cast he assembled here. He offers nothing of value to the characters or the style of the film. The action sequences are silly and loaded with ho-hum CGI, and the attempted wit falls flatter than a pancake. Transitions are often done by cartoony post-cards, which would have been a clever touch if it didn’t feel so out of place. What's really alarming about the entire run is just how BORING things are. It's hard to place the "why" behind it; it just is.

The cast eats up and hams up their roles to an extent. Some scenes it’s clear that even the actors are bored as they phone it in. Malkovitch gets the most laughs (out of the very few that exist), and Freeman is sinfully underused. The real gems here go to Urban and Louise-Parker, who step into their roles and situations nicely. Smaller roles/cameos by Richard Dreyfuss, Ernest Borgnine, Brian Cox and Julian McMahon are nice touches but offer little in the grand scheme of things.

RED puts up a few moments that earn a chuckle and a few oohs and aahs, but overall it is an easily forgettable mess. It could have been either a clever character-comedy or an eye-popping actioneer. It tries to do both without much success. Note to future filmmakers: ensemble casts only work if each part contributes something.


BOTTOM LINE: Fuck it.