A bit dated looking at it over 20 years later, but still entertaining. A slick neo-noir that helped revive the genre.
All Roads Lead To Intrigue. Red Rock West is directed by John Dahl who also co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Rick. It stars Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle, J. T. Walsh and Timothy Carhart. Music is by William Olvis and cinematography by Marc Reshovsky. When a promised job in Wyoming fails to materialise on account of an injury sustained in combat, Michael Williams (Cage) drifts into the town of Red Rock and is mistaken in a bar for a hit-man hired to kill an unfaithful wife. Tempted by the high cash on offer, Michael plays along and promptly finds himself in a web of intrigue from which escape is looking unlikely Welcome To Red Rock/You Are Now Leaving Red Rock. The studio didn't know what to do with it, a neo-noir flavoured with contemporary Western spices. Put out on cable in America and thriving on its limited release in Europe, it started to gain a cult fan-base. More so after a theatre in the Frisco Bay area started showing it and it made considerable coinage. Today it still remains more of a cult piece than anything else, which while it deserves more accolades and exposure, is still kind of nice for the fans, because it's like we have our own little neo-noir treasure all to ourselves. Red Rock West is essential for the neo-noir heads and well worthy of inspection by the average modern day crime film fan. Plot wise it's a bit, shall we say iffy? Yet the twists, turns and characterisations are so deftly constructed and performed, it matters not a jot. Cage's ex- marine is an honest and decent guy who whilst down on his luck - punished for his honesty - finds himself in a vortex of mystery and murder that he can't escape from. His companions in this scenario are film noir staples, the femme fatale (Boyle) with a smoulder as big as her secret, the hit-man (Hopper) with a glint in his eye to accompany his callous leanings, and the shifty bar owner (Walsh) trying to off his wife whilst keeping his shady cards close to his chest. As the tricksy plot unfolds in a haze of bad judgements and untruths, further pulsed by the vagaries of fate, it becomes apparent that Dahl wants us to know it isn't taking itself too seriously. There's a glorious scent of dark humour hanging in the air, an unpretentiousness about the whole thing that's refreshing. The look and feel is perfect for the narrative, the colour is stripped back to create a moody atmospheric surround, while the score and sound-tracking immediately brings to mind country and western tales of woe. Dahl knows his noir onions, but this is not just a homage hat tipper to the past, he understands what works in noir, be it the blending of the quirky with the edgy, or scene setting in locales such as a colourless bar and a foggy cemetery, Dahl gets the key ingredients right to deliver the goods wholesale. The small cast come up trumps. Boyle as Suzanne Brown is weak if her femme fatale is pitted against the likes of Matty Walker or Bridget Gregory, but it's an adequate performance that doesn't hinder the picture. She is helped enormously, though, by having to share most scenes with Cage who brings his "A" game. Consistently inconsistent throughout his career, Cage, when on form is a joy to watch, here he gets to thrive as a put upon hero, shifting seamlessly between confusion and boldness, where incredulous looks are the order of the day with a side order of eccentric intensity. Hopper does what he does so well, amusing villainy, while Walsh is effortlessly menacing and suspicious. In small secondary support Carhart and country star Dwight Yoakam leave favourable impressions. This is not an edge of your seat thriller, or a cranium bothering piece of dramedy, it's neo-noir done right. Where morality is grey at best and money is the root of all evil, it's slick, playful, cold blooded and absorbing. Hooray! 9/10
The film tells the story of two good friends who live together, Andrew, an agoraphobic travel agent who works from his home, and Dave, a loser who works in an office where he is treated with contempt. Just when it seems things can't get any worse for the two, the entire world outside of their house disappears and is replaced with an endless white void.
Movie Star Rating : 5.7 Read More
In 1950s Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.
Movie Star Rating : 5.9 Read More
A race car driver tries to transport an illegal beer shipment from Texas to Atlanta in under 28 hours, picking up a reluctant bride-to-be on the way.
Movie Star Rating : 7 Read More
The sensuous wife of a lunch wagon proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordidly steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.
Movie Star Rating : 6.5 Read More
Remy McSwain is a New Orleans police lieutenant who investigates the murder of a local mobster. His investigation leads him to suspect that fellow members of the police force may be involved.
Movie Star Rating : 6.3 Read More
After witnessing a mysterious woman brutally slay a homemaker, prostitute Liz Blake finds herself trapped in a dangerous situation. While the police thinks she is the murderer, the real killer is intent on silencing her only witness.
Movie Star Rating : 6.9 Read More
In this belated sequel to 'The Decline of the American Empire', 50-something Montreal college professor, Remy, learns that he is dying of liver cancer. He decides to make amends meet to his friends and family before he dies. He first tries to made peace with his ex-wife Louise, who asks their estranged son Sebastian, a successful businessman living in London, to come home. Sebastian makes the impossible happen, using his contacts and disrupting the entire Canadian system in every way possible to help his father fight his terminal illness to the bitter end, while he also tries to reunite his former friends, Pierre, Alain, Dominique, Diane, and Claude to see their old friend before he passes on.
Movie Star Rating : 7.1 Read More
Inspector “Flatfoot” Rizzo investigates crime and corruption in Naples.
Movie Star Rating : 6.5 Read More
A town—where everyone seems to be named Johnson—stands in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, robber baron Hedley Lemar sends his henchmen to make life in the town unbearable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the Governor, so Hedley convinces him to send the town the first black sheriff in the west.
Movie Star Rating : 7.3 Read More
Black Box BRD steps back into German history, showing the Federal Republic of Germany of the 70s and 80s. The country is polarized due to the power struggle of the German state and the "Red Army Faction". Society is torn, the fronts are irreconcilable. The life stories of both Wolfgang Grams and Alfred Herrhausen are tragically linked to this era. Grams is the one who takes up arms for moral rigor; Herrhausen however seizes power and dies when powerful.
Movie Star Rating : 5.9 Read More
Spinning Gold 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
Dalíland 2022 - Movies (Jun 9th)
97 Minutes 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
Transformers Rise of the Beasts 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
The Secret Kingdom 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
The Wonder Weeks 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
You Do You 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
John Wick Chapter 4 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
Fast X 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
Flamin Hot 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
The Boogeyman 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
Brooklyn 45 2023 - Movies (Jun 9th)
Taz Quest for Burger 2023 - Movies (Jun 8th)
Bermuda Island 2023 - Movies (Jun 8th)
Nuclear Now 2022 - Movies (Jun 8th)
Culpa Mía 2023 - Movies (Jun 8th)
American Pain 2022 - Movies (Jun 8th)
SpongeBob SquarePants Presents The Tidal Zone 2023 - Movies (Jun 8th)
Who Invited Charlie? 2023 - Movies (Jun 8th)
Making of the Meme King 2023 - Movies (Jun 8th)
Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse 2023 - Movies (Jun 7th)
On Patrol- Live - (Jun 10th)
The Proof Is Out There - (Jun 10th)
The UnXplained - (Jun 10th)
A Question of Sport - (Jun 10th)
Gutfeld! - (Jun 10th)
Fox News Tonight - (Jun 10th)
Clean It, Fix It - (Jun 10th)
Bargain Hunt - (Jun 10th)
Gardeners World - (Jun 10th)
Hannity - (Jun 10th)
Hidden Treasures of the National Trust - (Jun 10th)
The Five - (Jun 10th)
The Chase - (Jun 10th)
Tipping Point - (Jun 10th)
Painting With John - (Jun 10th)
WWE SmackDown - (Jun 10th)
Have I Got News for You - (Jun 10th)
Gogglebox - (Jun 10th)
The Chris and Rosie Ramsey Show - (Jun 10th)
The Stand Up Sketch Show - (Jun 10th)