Red State

DVD Release Date: October 18, 2011

Director: Kevin Smith

Screenwriter: Kevin Smith

Producer: Jonathan Gordon

Genre: Horror

MPAA Rating: R

Time: 88 minutes

Year: 2011

Let me just start out by saying, I fucking love Kevin Smith. I have enjoyed everything the man has directed, and Red State is certainly no exception. Although he moves away from his comfort zone comprised of fart and dick jokes, Smith has reached (in my opinion) a new found writer/director high. This controversial story starts off like many smith movies, with about fifteen minutes of dialog comprised of conversations of the sexual nature. Than the story picks up when they introduce the five points church.

The five points church is loosely based on the Phelps family, and they are even mentioned by the congregation several times. They’re hardcore gun-toting old testament style Christians, who really hate the gays . They spend their time protesting homosexuals and apparently unknowingly to the law lure them to trailers and drug them. They than bring them back to the church and execute them on a cross wrapped in plastic wrap, while preaching fire and brimstone sermons.

What makes this movie so amazing, is the performances given by the cast. Without this cast this movie would not have been half as good. Michael Parks (Kill Bill, From Dusk till Dawn) plays the brilliantly portrayed patriarch leader of the church Abin Cooper. Parks gives the most brilliantly delivered hate filled sermon, that sends shivers down my spine every time i hear it. Not only can the man rock a monologue, He also becomes quite the opposing force when the ATF brings out the big guns.

And of course by big guns I mean John Goodman as ATF agent Joseph Keenan, who also has an extraordinary monologue near the end. Where Parks’ sermon was hate filled and energetic, Goodman’s was more like a southern gentleman telling a story on the porch while drinking iced tea. In my opinion this was one of Goodman’s best performances since O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The only thing that I found disagreeable with this movie was the lack of main character(s).  There was definitely a sense of  antagonist and protagonist, but there was a lack of feeling for a specific  character. Throughout the movie there are certain moments where you connect with different characters. These moments were normally brief and short lived, mostly due to the short life span of the characters.

All in all this movie was brilliantly written, with an outstanding cast. I give it a

9/10