Red Rock WestRating:
Release Date: 10 August, 1999 Retail Price: $24.95 OUR Price: $21.99 You SAVE: $2.96! Cast: Complete Cast (15 total) |
Red Rock West Reviews
A movie movie...
Do yourself a favour and try this one. It was a nice surprise to me. It's my understanding that this was originally a movie done for HBO or one of the other cable giants, but it has the feel of a movie I would have seen years ago at an art-house theater.
Nicholas Cage - and I'm not much of a fan - drives his landliner of a Caddy out to an oil rig in the remote American West on the promise of a job by a buddy already working there. The rig boss turns him down upon learning of Cage's character's bum leg, the result of a military injury. Left high and dry, Cage's character, Michael, cruises into Red Rock on fumes, willing to do almost anything for work. He inadvertently accepts a job, the nature of which is vague, and is horrified to discover that he is expected to bump off a cheating wife.
It's important to note here that Red Rock, a blip on the map, is essentially run by the sheriff of the town, in true Old West fashion. Saying too much here would ruin some of the excellent twists, but suffice it to say that Michael becomes the unwitting lynchpin that ties together all the nasty elements - a basically good guy caught between a bunch of slimeballs.
There are a number of neat bits - Michael drives in and out of town past the city-limits sign so many times I kept looking for the population notation on the sign to change - and some priceless roles. Dennis Hopper saved "Waterworld" from a totally watery grave; if this movie was bad, he would have done the same thing, but he just adds to this one, at his maniac best and clearly enjoying every minute. Lara Flynn Boyle, as the femme fatale, ceased having much effect on my regard after Twin Peaks; she does OK here, but I did question Michael's continued involvement with her when she is such obvious bad news. J.T. Walsh plays pretty much his regular bad-guy role. The real treat for me is quite minor - a cameo by Dwight Yoakam that makes me smile every time I see it. (He also sings the theme at the end.) One scene at a bar, where Michael is trying to escape from a hit man, has me on the edge even though I know what's going to happen.
For a movie that nobody seems to have heard of, it has a lot going on. And at the end, everybody has gotten just what they deserve. It is certainly worth a couple hours of any movie maven's day.
Fantastic, low-budget film noir
Red Rock West is a perfect example of how good a film can be with practically no budget. All you need is a smart script, good actors and loads of atmosphere. RRW delivers all these and more.
Nic Cage plays an ex-marine, injured in Lebanon, who is down to his last 5 dollars after being refused a job on an oilfield because of his bad knee. He roles into Red Rock and is mistaken by bartender Wayne (JT Walsh, not quite as his most menacing-but still evil) for a hit-man from Texas.
He pays him to kill his wife and make it look like burglary. Only when he gets there, just to check her out. She offers him double to kill Wayne. Cage just wants to get the hell out of town with his free money and leave the sparring lovers be. But a series of mishaps and setbacks results in him yo-yoing in and out of Red Rock, back and forth. Eventually this leads to a run-in with Lyle from Dallas (a cheeky and somehow sympathetic Dennis Hopper), the REAL hit-man from Texas who offers to help without knowing he's making the plot more complicated.
RRW never had a big release, thus most of it's audience discovered it on video or on cable TV showings. Viewing it in such a way might make it seem like a TV movie but it's bigger than that. The slick, slowly-timed direction, moody score and howling desert wind would have all made for a great movie in theatres but the best you can do these days is watch the DVD on a big HDTV.
The only weak point of the movie I can think of is Lara Flynn Boyle's boring femme fatale with the nasty dyke-ish hairdo. I certainly wouldn't fall for her but if you assume that Nic Cage's character is in to militant lesbians then you'll accept it nonetheless.
The DVD is in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 2.0 sound and a commentary by the director.
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