Plot
When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last ditch effort to survive and uncover his assailants.
Release Year: 2010
Rating: 7.0/10 (86,902 voted)
Critic's Score: 61/100
Director:
Robert Schwentke
Stars: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman
Storyline Frank (Bruce Willis) is retired, bored and lonely living off his government pension in a nondescript suburb in an equally nondescript house. The only joy in Frank's life are his calls to the government pension processing center when he gets to talk to his case worker Sarah (Mary-Louis Parker). Sarah is as bored and lonely as Frank and marks her conversations with the unknown Frank and her spy novels as the only things fun in her life. When something in Frank's past forces Frank back into his old line of work and puts an unwitting Sarah in the middle of the intrigue, Frank and Sarah begin a journey into Franks past and the people he used to work with. Like Frank they are all RED ... Retired Extremely Dangerous.
Writers: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber
Cast: Bruce Willis
-
Frank Moses
Mary-Louise Parker
-
Sarah Ross
Karl Urban
-
William Cooper
Rebecca Pidgeon
-
Cynthia Wilkes
Morgan Freeman
-
Joe Matheson
Chris Owens
-
Hanged Man
Jaqueline Fleming
-
Marna
Randy Wade Kelley
-
Paramedic
Jason Giuliano
-
Endercott
Alec Rayme
-
Cop at Intersection
Lawrence Turner
-
Retirement Home Assassin
Emily Kuroda
-
Mrs. Chan
Joe Chrest
-
Retirement Home Detective
Justine Wachsberger
-
Nurse Mary
Tara Yelland
-
Wilkes' Secretary
Filming Locations: 1507 Magazine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Box Office Details
Budget: $58,000,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $21,761,408
(USA)
(17 October 2010)
(3255 Screens)
Gross: $186,100,000
(Worldwide)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia: Brian Cox and Helen Mirren play a Russian and British spy, respectively. In real life, their ancestry is reversed: Brian Cox is British and Mirren, though born in England, has Russian ancestry.
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes:
(At 15:52) In the limousine when William Cooper opens the file on Frank Moses, the picture is reversed, with flag, ribbons etc. on the left side of the photo.
Quotes:
[first lines]
Frank Moses:
[on the phone]
943-66-2291. Pension Services, please.
Woman:
Thank you, Mr. Moses, please hold for your representative.
User Review
Ridiculous...Entertaining...Delightful...RED is all this.!
Rating: 7/10
When Bruce Willis plays his indestructible yet on the surface everyday
guy he is right where the audience loves him. In RED, "Retired
Extremely Dangerous", he has a close to perfect vehicle. And, so RED
delivers in spite of a fairly ridiculous scenario of a group of ex-CIA
operatives,or which Willis is one, being singled out for execution on
the eve of the vice-president announcing his candidacy for president.
We get the message from the first that Willis is somewhat lonely and
bored with retirement and is searching for a companion to make his new
life matter. He isn't aching to get back to fast track, but is
venerable and is fixated on a kind and cheery voice on the other end of
the phone line when he complains about not getting his pension checks
(he tears them up just to talk to his "handler"). He arranges a meeting
with the sweet sounding gal just prior to everything falling apart
because the CIA sends in a "wet" team to erase him. As suspected the
CIA, as well as most all the resources of the government, are not up to
the task.
Willis reassembles his old team, all in his age bracket or older, in
order to survive. That team, if not on the surface a formidable threat,
is pure cinematic gold as it consists of excellent performances by
Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren. It is almost
impossible not to like this film because of the wonderfully
entertaining supporting cast. In fact Malkovich steals the show
providing the correct dosage of crazed comic relief. This leads to
impossible feats making for deliciously served up entertainment; all
with a "nod-and-a-wink" that cuts through the unbelievable. Great
action with comedy! Richard Dreyfus turns in a solid performance as a
spoiled smart-ass (uber-wealthy and powerful) arms dealer who pulls
strings behind the scenes. And, Ernest Borgnine has a cameo role which
is memorable.
It's a character driven action comedy that truly is RED (ridiculous,
entertaining, delightful). This movie gets a 7.5 and, as such, is hard
to fault in spite of being pure light-weight fluff. See it and smile.
Plot
A reclusive man sets out for justice and redemption when three troublesome teens kill his dog for no good reason.
Release Year: 2008
Rating: 7.1/10 (5,954 voted)
Critic's Score: 61/100
Director:
Trygve Allister Diesen
Stars: Brian Cox, Noel Fisher, Kyle Gallner
Storyline An older, reclusive man's best friend is his dog RED. When three teens kill his dog for no reason, the man sets out for justice and redemption within whatever means possible, legal or otherwise.
Writers: Stephen Susco, Jack Ketchum
Cast: Brian Cox
-
Avery Ludlow
Noel Fisher
-
Danny
Kyle Gallner
-
Harold
Shiloh Fernandez
-
Pete
Kim Dickens
-
Carrie
Marcia Bennett
-
Emma
Richard Riehle
-
Sam
Tom Sizemore
-
Mr. McCormack
Ashley Laurence
-
Mrs. McCormack
Robert Englund
-
Mr. Doust
Amanda Plummer
-
Mrs. Doust
Keith Buterbaugh
-
Dean
Jack Ketchum
-
Bartender
(as Dallas Mayr)
Delaney Williams
-
Gun Shop Manager
Tate Ellington
-
Gun Shop Clerk
Taglines:
They should have told the truth.
Release Date: 3 Jan 2008
Filming Locations: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Box Office Details
Budget: $2,500,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $3,176
(USA)
(10 August 2008)
(2 Screens)
Gross: $3,176
(USA)
(10 August 2008)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia: Lucky McKee was the original director and had been shooting for weeks when he was fired and replaced by Trygve Allister Diesen for unknown reasons. Angela Bettis (a frequent McKee collaborator) was also attached to the project, playing the role of 'Carrie', but was fired and replaced by Kim Dickens for, again, unknown reasons.
Quotes: Avery Ludlow:
My my. My my. You've had yourself quite a day. Quite a day.
User Review
A nuanced story and mesmerizing performance make this a must see
Rating: 8/10
Brian Cox is ranked among the best character actors in the business.
Yet, for all his talent, he's seldom chosen as a leading man, instead
being called upon to fill supporting roles as far ranging as the
original Hannibal Lecter (Manhunter) to William Wallace's dad in
Bravehart and William Stryker in X2, the X-Men sequel, among only a few
of his 134 roles thus far. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to see
him handed the lead in Red, a mini-masterpiece of one man's quest for
justice which screened at the 2008 edition of Montreal's Fantasia film
festival.
Directed by Trygve Allister Diesen and Lucky McKee (May, The Woods),
and based on a story by Jack Ketchum, Red tells the story of aging war
vet Avery Ludlow (Cox), whose only remaining companion after a life of
tragedy, a dog named Red, is brutally killed by a group of teens. Built
upon a remarkably rich, layered and textured script by Stephen Susco
(The Grudge), the story doesn't play out as your simple
paint-by-numbers revenge thriller. Instead, it unfolds slowly and all
too realistically as Ludlow seeks redress, not revenge, from the
wealthy father of two of the boys (Tom Sizemore in full sleaze mode),
only to be rebuffed by parents and legal channels alike. Even when
these attempts fail, Ludlow, ever the civil citizen, tells his story to
the local TV news, and launches a lawsuit against the killers.
Drawing parallels between teen dog killer Danny McCormack (Noel Fisher)
and Ludlow's chilling account of how his own son single handedly
destroyed his family, we're presented with a man whose motivation for
justice is driven in large part by a belated attempt to right the
wrongs of his past. So much so, in fact, that in the absence of his
companion dog, the quest for justice virtually becomes Ludlow's reason
for living, to the point where it practically consumes him.
Cox's performance here is nothing short of breathtaking. He carries
this movie on his back and is in every scene, mesmerizing you with his
nuanced portrayal of a lonely man to whom tragedy has bequeathed a host
of inner demons to torment him in his twilight years.
Don't mistake Red for lesser fare such as Death Wish or The Brave One.
While it is constructed around a fairly simple premise that on the
surface appears primed to appeal to the base human desire for revenge,
the story here is so much more than that, and to give it short shrift
and dismiss it as mere manipulative movie making would be to miss out
on a story and performance that is a true must see.
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