I've tagged some points that aren't exactly spoilers, but may vaguely point out some plot points that might somewhat spoil aspects of the movie to those who want to go in knowing nothing. So just to be on the safe side I've thrown them in even if it causes my review to not make any sense. Then again, when did any of them?

How could someone describe Red State? There are two words that I've heard tossed around - horror and thriller - though I'm not sure if I buy Red State belonging to either of those genres. Sure the film has got a couple of horrific moments and Smith does a pretty damn good job of throwing a few curveballs at the viewer to keep us on our toes. But I think what Smith is aiming at here is satire. I'm not sure if this is going to make any sense but I'm going to throw it out there any way: the situation the characters find themselves in based simply on their actions becomes so over the top that it's not too far fetched to believe this could actually happen.

And that's what makes the film work. I'll be honest, as soon as the film was over, I wasn't sure whether or not I liked it. , and we're left a little unsatisfied. But that's kind of the point. We're selfish just like the characters in the movie and since why should the audience expect the same?

Another aspect of the film I want to point out is the overall look. I know Smith has had some critics when it comes to the "look" of his film and how it's shot, but I've never had a problem with how his films looked. Comedies rarely need a visual flare to them although it helps as long as it isn't distracting. With Red State however, I don't see how critics could complain about the overall product. There are a couple of shots here and there that involve characters running that I could've done without (probably to shut up critics even though it worked against him in those couple of instances) but this is easily Smith's best looking and most inventive looking film to date.

That saying the film isn't Smith's perfect opus like one might expect if you listen to his podcasts. Some of the comedy doesn't exactly feel at home (though the last line of the movie is pretty great). And despite what I said above, I almost feel that the story is a little too...simplistic? For instance, the three boys use some sort of app or website to find women to fuck. They see women (or "options" as they really see them) from L.A., New York, Chicago, but they go for one in Cooper's Dell? Unless I missed something, the name of the town is never given which would lead one to believe that wherever this person is located, it is somewhere near where Abin Cooper lives. And since all three of the boys know who Abin Cooper is, why would any of them want to go near where he lives, even if it means they might get some? And since only one woman is posted from being from Cooper's Dell, wouldn't that seem at least a little bit suspicious to them?

There's also a character played by Stephen Root that...well, I don't get the point of the character outside of setting the film in motion. He's also handled in a way that one might look at as being cruel. And considering the character is, at the very least a bisexual, it makes it all the more confusing because I think it's quite clear that Smith doesn't share the same views as Abin Cooper. I might just be missing the underlying point to Root's character.

It's not the "important" film Smith's podcasts might suggest it is, but it's one of Smith's more mature efforts. And considering he's moved away from the comedy genre into something that's not in his wheelhouse, the effort is somewhat impressive. It also didn't hurt that he gets a fantastic performance from Michael Parks, and a pretty damn good one out of John Goodman who has become so criminally underused in movies since The Big Lebowski. Is it as good as his best films (Chasing Amy, Dogma, Clerks II)? Not quite, but it sure as hell isn't Mallrats.

***½ (B+)

I'm on the fence. It's very weird structurally and Smith's complete stubbornness not to play favorites leads to characters who shift sides based on whatever script page they're on. Kevin Alejandro goes from delaying an order and vehemently arguing with John Goodman to popping unarmed teens without so much as blinking.

But damn, Michael Parks is really, really good. And there are moments in it that really startled me.

B+

Kevin Smith’s Red State might have been one of the most widely discussed movies in the horror community of the last couple of years and that even before it went into production. That can be attributed to the fact that we’ve got a well-known comedy director with a distinct style of his own promising to make a dead-serious horror movie to end all horror movies. That idea alone, as unbelievable as it sounds, is intriguing enough. Then Smith himself made sure that the movie’s title stuck around. The financing issues, a very controversial topic, guerrilla marketing and a roadshow self-distribution had the genre fans’ curiosity peaked as also evidenced by the sold-out showing at which I have seen this at the Fantasy Film Festival.

But there have also been justified doubts. Can the director of Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma really make a serious hard-as-nails horror movie? Let’s not forget that his only foray into non-comedy filmmaking has been Jersey Girl, a movie that even Kevin Smith admits is far from his best. Did he pull it off and reinvent the horror genre? Hardly, especially since it is difficult to classify it as a horror movie at all. It does have some genre elements, but the whole thing is so unconventional and contains so many shoot-outs that it just defies a simple genre attribution. However, Smith did make something special and unusual here and whole it is hardly comparable to the rest of his work, it is what it is – a well-crafted movie.

The plot sounds as simple as they get on paper. A trio of sex-hungry teens answer to an online sex invitation, only to end up in the clutches of a fundamentalist Christian sect, The Five Points Trinity Church which is basically just a thinly veiled representation of the Westboro Baptist Church. Its insane leader, Abin Cooper (played by Michael Parks) stands for Fred Phelps. He plans to execute the teens for their sins. So far terribly conventional. But that’s when the things really get started (and messy). Just when it seems like the movie would turn into the crazy Christians version of Hostel, John Goodman’s character, an ATF agent investigating the church shows up with his team and a prolonged shootout with the well-armed church members begins. If you think I have already spoiled too much, don’t worry. There’s plenty more to be seen and uncovered here.

It was very refreshing to see a director straying away from almost all genre conventions and simply not caring whether he produces a horror movie, an action movie or a political statement (which it is and it’s not just the Christian fundamentalists he attacks here – all sides are being critically looked at). Smith definitely had all the creative freedom he wanted here which was good because a major studio would have never allowed the film to take the shape it ended up taking. It’s mean-spirited, brutal, uncompromising and still funny. The latter sometimes presents itself as a problem, however. Especially in the first 20 minutes of the movie, during the film’s initial setup the Kevin Smith’s dialogue really shines through (as does the excessive usage of obscenities for a humorous effect). Considering most parts of the movie are free of Smith’s style, this somewhat stands out as a sore thumb. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy most of Smith’s comedies, but this just didn’t fit here. That lapse aside, it is really solid filmmaking throughout and Smith has proven himself as a capable director outside of his favourite genre.

As far as the acting goes, Smith has assembled an impressive ensemble here with Melissa Leo, John Goodman, Kyle Gallner and Stephen Root. All turn in good performances, but it is clearly Michael Parks as the insanely evil religious leader Abin Cooper that stands out. Almost always a smile on his face he exudes menace. It’s definitely the performance of Parks’ career and unlikely ever to be topped, even though his initial monologue just goes on for a tad too long (but that’s a minor lapse on Smith’s part).

And there’s also the movie’s pretty clever ending that leaves you shaking your head in disbelief at first and laughing later on. No more shall be said on that.

http://www.worldofkj.com/article.php?i=397

It's probably Smith's best-directed film, as faint as that praise is, but it's so fucking didactic and obvious that it really doesn't matter. Michael Parks may have been great, but I hardly paid attention to his endless monologuing and redundant reasoning. People say Tarantino has a serious problem with word vomit - I dare them to watch this film. There's so much bloody exposition and explanation and downright boring dialogue that it flat-out kills the picture's momentum whenever a character opens his mouth. Essentially, it's Haggis' Crash, only with more gore and violence and with religion, not racism, the subject of scorn.

This film felt like Kevin Smith ranting against whatever pissed him off for ninety minutes. If that sounds like something you want to see, by all means, waste your money (or, as with me, merely your time).

A fascinating, flawed movie. I wish it was better. It's clear writer/director Kevin Smith has a lot on his mind here--religious intolerance, government misconduct and secrecy--and it's an admirable, almost amazing change of pace for him. This turn into action/horror/satire territory, however bizarre, feels more organic than Jersey Girl, his bid for respectability by way of family-friendly romantic comedy.

But the film, lasting less than 90 minutes, feels rushed and half-formed. Many movies are criticized for being too long, but this one is too short. The shifts in focus, even if they give the film a shot of electrifying unpredictability (anyone can die at any time, and they do), are whiplash-inducing. It's a Smith-standard horny-dude romp for a few minutes, then it's a Fred Phelps-infused Hostel, then it's a Waco '93 inspired shoot-'em-up. The curves and sudden turns he devised himself get the better of Smith. The ideas come across loud and clear, and they are as scary and amusing and timely as Smith intends, but there's disconnects. We care for three teen victims, capably played by Michael Angarano, Nicholas Braun, and Kyle Gallner, but then they cease to be an ongoing concern of the movie's. There's a character called Cheyenne; she is a cult member, but has inner doubts and aims to save children once bullets start flying. She's a touching, interesting individual, but too thinly drawn to have as much impact as she should/could.

John Goodman and Michael Parks are, yes, excellent, playing polar opposite characters. Parks devours the scenery with disturbing glee as a fire-and-brimstone preacher/murderer, while Goodman exudes a certain regal tiredness as a decent enough man misled and let down by his superiors and just fed up with the B.S. of modern America. There are traces of Tommy Lee Jones' memorable No Country for Old Men character in Goodman's fine turn. Not as powerful, but still.

I dig this movie in a lot of ways. I do. It's easily Smith's best film to date on a technical level--he stages chases and shootouts with surprising aplomb. (It's not his best film in general, nowhere near as wonderful as Clerks, Chasing Amy, or Dogma. I'm not sure he'll ever top those gems.) There are these great scenes where Smith's anger and wit perfectly blend, and they get under your skin. It could have been great had it been fleshed out, clarified, and made with more skill and precision.

B-

It's interesting how Smith, famous for his words, deals with the challenges of writing a genre film vs. a "nerdy dudes shoot the shit and maybe fall in love and hang out and then go home" comedy. The exposition is very rough at times. The classroom scene, for example, where he has the teacher and students lay out the Five Points Church's history and beliefs in a "natural" (not at all) way.

I was pretty disappointed in this one. It should have been better. It especially falls apart in the final act, which should have been longer. It really doesn't go anywhere. I agree with David in that it's too short.

6/10 (C+/B-)

Red State is an interesting film. I appreciate the approach Kevin Smith was trying to make here but the film feels incomplete. An extra few minutes would have been nice. The action is alright and the horror of it is a bit too unsettling, especially since there are people out there who would go to such extremes on issues raised in the film. John Goodman is good in this but Melissa Leo is a bit weak in it. I don’t know, I would have to say I did not quite like the film but if some things were changed a little and some stuff was added, I might have. *1/2

Caught on Nettrix.

The movie had me glued and the part with the horns had me going for a bit. I think Parks had 1 to many monologues but it was surprising to see all the kids killed too.

Grade - B

Yes, the kids all being killed was a surprise.

Finally saw this today. I really dug it. Way better than I expected. I love Smith, especially the radio network, but I did not expect a lot from a weed-addled Smith. Aside from a few scenes of "word vomit" (although that's what he's known for, just not quite to this extent), it's a great thriller. So many great, disturbing scenes.

***/****

Not my favorite movie of his, but definitely the one I respect the most.

Red State

It's an odd, unusual, and frustrating film. The beginning part made me feel a bit repulsed. The pastor and the church followers deserved to die and rot in hell, all of them, but many of them lived, and especially the main one. There were many opportunities for the writers to turn one of the victims' friends into a hero of sorts, but they decided against it, which I don't think was a good idea. We have 3 innocent young boys, all making the wrong decisions, and all dying.

John Goodman was good, but he should have wiped out the lot and burned that place to the ground. Fucking creepy ass church worshippers. Melissa Leo doesn't even hold an AK in the movie, so the poster is false advertising. Overall, the movie left me unsatisfied.

Smith seems to have wanted to generate forum discussion with this movie instead of satisfied viewers.

C-

I did like the last line of the movie. It's like an accurate reflection of modern society, where people basically ignore the babbling, crazy church-goers ("Shut the fuck up").

Meh, as a huge fan of Kevin Smith and the horror genre this was a disappointment. I've been meaning to watch it for quite awhile but I've just kept putting it off. It has some pretty great performances in it but as a whole, I ultimately don't think it works very well. The pretty awful writing is to blame here. I'm usually a fan of Smith's dialogue in his films but here it was just never ending ramble. It wasn't terrible, I wasn't really bored and it had a few twists I wasn't expecting but it wasn't anything special either. Here's hoping Tusk is far better.

C+

I want to give this a re-watch before seeing Tusk. He's definitely lost a spark to his writing (I know someone will argue he never had one to begin with) since at least Zack and Miri, if not Clerks II, but I like that these latest films are ambitious. I rather an ambitious Smith flick that misses the mark than the same ol' song and dance.