Who Directed Red State?

Red State does not feel like a Kevin Smith film at all.  Since leaving and reuniting and leaving his View Askew universe Smith has not been able to find his own voice.  Zach & Miri Make A Porno felt as though it rode on the coat tails of the Judd Apatow empire and here in Red State Smith seems to have made a Tarantino Cohen Brothers film.  While Smith has always infused a bit of politics within his films, here he does so in ample amounts.


To give away the plot would spoil the uneven thrills that populate the film, but to say the film digs at the Westboro church is an understatement.  Tarantino veteran, Michael Parks, gives us long winded but perfectly acted monologues about the fire and brimstone God who hates homosexuals and seeks the fear of his wrath.  Red State feels more like a political novel rather than a film.  Each character we believe to be the main protagonist works only to lead us to the next chapter.  This doesn't allow us to feel for anyone in particular but aids in telling a story with a bigger picture.


Overall we are given a few scenes of torture and a positively well pieced together gun fight, but there is no true horror.  Red State is worth viewing, but never rises to the occasion as a film of worth.


Rating: III/V