David O'ConnellRed State
October 7th 2011 03:30
A radical departure is exactly what director Kevin Smith needed, an escape route from the rut that has long consumed his work. Smith has been in the doldrums for a while now, losing both relevance and diehard supporters with each new film. Back in 1999, after a career peak with Chasing Amy (1997), the entertaining Dogma felt like a welcome shift in a new direction, though with Jay and Silent Bob along for the ride, the shackles were never completely removed. But then followed a succession of further deflating works: Clerks 2 (2006) was grasping at straws, before the arrival of the abysmal Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) and, finally, the blatant commercial pleas of the appropriately named Cop Out (2010).
Now comes Red State, a genuine jolt out of the blue and a fresh beginning. With his latest, Smith finally renders false those assertions that he’s a filmmaker unwilling to step out of his comfort zone. Though it begins like a variation of countless previous Smith films with a trio of horny teenagers using the internet to bed an older woman, their intended target, (Melissa Leo) has a nasty surprise waiting for them. The pre-ritual drinks they’ve been provided with are spiked; upon waking they find themselves imprisoned like birds in a cage.
The setting is a church and one of the boys, rattling the bars of his cage ineffectually, must listen to an elongated sermon in which the parish receives from their revered pastor (Michael Parks) the kind of fire-and-brimstone proclamations that are like sweet music to their ears. Oh, and when the pastor finally shuts up, there’s gonna be some sacrificial killing…………..!!
With the introduction of Federal agents, headed by Joe Keenan (John Goodman), Red State becomes a perverse variation on the Waco siege with the cost of exterminating religious extremism weighed up against the public relations angle. Some of the action scenes are kinetically framed, daring you to believe that they’ve been conceived by a director who, in the past, has barely known what to do with a camera other than maintain unimaginative, static points of view.
Then there’s a moment of genius towards the end: anyone familiar with the concept of the Rapture will be spellbound by Smith’s clever and audacious strategy in bringing this concept into play. In the end, he sinks a venomous boot into just about everyone, yet occasionally the camouflage of black comedy will give the impression of punches being pulled.
Red State (2011) is a welcome diversion from the much maligned Smith; at times it’s gripping, tense, and absurdly humourous. True, it may also waver wildly in tone and quality, but ultimately it defies expectations in the most positive, surprising way.
Red State opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday, October 13.
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