Red State is Smith's most ambitious work to date, not due to budgetary reasons but simply because it is a genre flick that is outside his comfort level. Smith is known for comedies and Red State is the polar opposite. Despite the hundreds of laughs in the theatre, this movie is suppose to be sick and disturbing.
I had more fun with the Q and A after the film than I did actually watching Red State. The film tries so hard to be different that it actually fails in some aspects. I think Smith accomplished what he tried to do perfectly, set people off kilter with a film that was raw and unapologetic. Red State is all these things. But in doing so, he sacrifices a few things that would have made the film a bit more 'polished'. As it is, Red State feels like Smith is going back to his Clerks roots, in his technical style of filmmaking. He breaks a lot of editing rules, by crossing the axis and using jump cuts. They work effectively, but to the common viewer it could be a bit distracting. The use of hand held cameras and no score, are signs that Smith has indeed matured as a filmmaker.
We start off as a horror flick of sorts. We have three young teenage boys looking to get laid. They go out in the middle of the woods to find a girl online who will have sex with them. Turns out it's all a con by a sick and twisted religious family known as the Coopers. They imitate real life crazies The Phelps from the Westboro Baptist Church, with Michael Parks as the father of the clan. Tied up and next on the chopping block, the viewer is to expect the film to be about these kids trying to escape. For a fraction of the film it is this, but then Smith turns the idea of conventional filmmaking on the audience and switches genres. He does this many times, leaving the viewer feeling molested of sorts. Smith told us after the viewing that this is his intention. He wanted to provide you with a chair, so when you go to sit down, he moves to at the last minute.
Smith stated that this was his attempt at making a Tarantino-Coen style hybrid of a film. While I wouldn't go that far, it is indeed his most mature film to date. It's sad to see him leaving the filmmaking industry just when he managed to break out of the comedy that was holding him back. Chasing Amy showed promise in Smith as a filmmaker, then he went back to the basics. Red State shows promise again, but it's a bit late.
The script still has that Kevin Smith tongue that we've been accustomed to over the course of his career. He was able to get his opinions on Christianity out in Dogma and here it seems that he wants to get his opinions out on, well, many things. The two most prominent themes this film deals with his religion and homosexuality. Smith has always thrown in a bit of gay content in his films, but here it takes the forefront issue.
Smith said that the film we saw had some added material that wasn't in the cut since Sundance. Two lines in particular that got the crowd to gasp were the lines that were added, which were suppose to be cut. His reasoning for taking them out was that it was too easy to go that route. In a way I agree because I felt that it was a bit easy after one of the lines. I'm glad we got to see the ending that ends on a more punch worthy note than what his original ending was. Smith as an editor still needs some practice, there were a few areas I felt that could have be snipped up. Particularly Park's hate speech, which was originally 16 minutes long. As talented as he is, the length it is now, which is about 8 or so, is still a tad long. Now, after saying that, I will flip to the opposite side of the coin and say the film moves at breakneck speed. It's about an hour and a half long, but Smith flies through that running time like it's nobodies business.
No character is safe in this film. Bodies will fall and when they do, you have to decide whether or not you are invested enough in the characters to transfer that connection to someone else. Or, you could be like the people at our screening and cheer for every death on screen. The biggest name attached to the film is John Goodman and his role is Fargoesque, to put it lightly. The man has lost a lot of weight, and I believe it has effected his acting ability. I wasn't blown away by his performance, instead the whole time I kept thinking that he was sick and had health issues.
I would recommend this film to any and every Smith fan, just to get their reaction to it. Smith is finally doing what he wants to do, make movies. Red State isn't my favourite Smith film, it's not even his best, but it's one that I admire the most. You can tell he is very passionate about it and the way he is going about promoting and distributing it, tells me that he still very much loves the craft. To compare it to something similar, I'd have to say that the opening of The Devil's Rejects is a good place to start. That mixes both horror and action well and both have a family locked up in a house having a shooting match with some cops. I enjoyed Red State enough to recommend it to people, but not enough to rave about it to people.
I had more fun with the Q and A after the film than I did actually watching Red State. The film tries so hard to be different that it actually fails in some aspects. I think Smith accomplished what he tried to do perfectly, set people off kilter with a film that was raw and unapologetic. Red State is all these things. But in doing so, he sacrifices a few things that would have made the film a bit more 'polished'. As it is, Red State feels like Smith is going back to his Clerks roots, in his technical style of filmmaking. He breaks a lot of editing rules, by crossing the axis and using jump cuts. They work effectively, but to the common viewer it could be a bit distracting. The use of hand held cameras and no score, are signs that Smith has indeed matured as a filmmaker.
We start off as a horror flick of sorts. We have three young teenage boys looking to get laid. They go out in the middle of the woods to find a girl online who will have sex with them. Turns out it's all a con by a sick and twisted religious family known as the Coopers. They imitate real life crazies The Phelps from the Westboro Baptist Church, with Michael Parks as the father of the clan. Tied up and next on the chopping block, the viewer is to expect the film to be about these kids trying to escape. For a fraction of the film it is this, but then Smith turns the idea of conventional filmmaking on the audience and switches genres. He does this many times, leaving the viewer feeling molested of sorts. Smith told us after the viewing that this is his intention. He wanted to provide you with a chair, so when you go to sit down, he moves to at the last minute.
Smith stated that this was his attempt at making a Tarantino-Coen style hybrid of a film. While I wouldn't go that far, it is indeed his most mature film to date. It's sad to see him leaving the filmmaking industry just when he managed to break out of the comedy that was holding him back. Chasing Amy showed promise in Smith as a filmmaker, then he went back to the basics. Red State shows promise again, but it's a bit late.
The script still has that Kevin Smith tongue that we've been accustomed to over the course of his career. He was able to get his opinions on Christianity out in Dogma and here it seems that he wants to get his opinions out on, well, many things. The two most prominent themes this film deals with his religion and homosexuality. Smith has always thrown in a bit of gay content in his films, but here it takes the forefront issue.
Smith said that the film we saw had some added material that wasn't in the cut since Sundance. Two lines in particular that got the crowd to gasp were the lines that were added, which were suppose to be cut. His reasoning for taking them out was that it was too easy to go that route. In a way I agree because I felt that it was a bit easy after one of the lines. I'm glad we got to see the ending that ends on a more punch worthy note than what his original ending was. Smith as an editor still needs some practice, there were a few areas I felt that could have be snipped up. Particularly Park's hate speech, which was originally 16 minutes long. As talented as he is, the length it is now, which is about 8 or so, is still a tad long. Now, after saying that, I will flip to the opposite side of the coin and say the film moves at breakneck speed. It's about an hour and a half long, but Smith flies through that running time like it's nobodies business.
No character is safe in this film. Bodies will fall and when they do, you have to decide whether or not you are invested enough in the characters to transfer that connection to someone else. Or, you could be like the people at our screening and cheer for every death on screen. The biggest name attached to the film is John Goodman and his role is Fargoesque, to put it lightly. The man has lost a lot of weight, and I believe it has effected his acting ability. I wasn't blown away by his performance, instead the whole time I kept thinking that he was sick and had health issues.
I would recommend this film to any and every Smith fan, just to get their reaction to it. Smith is finally doing what he wants to do, make movies. Red State isn't my favourite Smith film, it's not even his best, but it's one that I admire the most. You can tell he is very passionate about it and the way he is going about promoting and distributing it, tells me that he still very much loves the craft. To compare it to something similar, I'd have to say that the opening of The Devil's Rejects is a good place to start. That mixes both horror and action well and both have a family locked up in a house having a shooting match with some cops. I enjoyed Red State enough to recommend it to people, but not enough to rave about it to people.