Red (2010)

An all-star cast spearheaded by Bruce Willis, and a clever script loaded with plenty of action and laughs make the recently released on home video flick Red an enjoyable ride.

Red, inspired by a DC Comics series of the same name focuses us to Frank Moses (Willis), a retired CIA agent. The title of the comic/movie comes from the fact that Moses is classified as Retired, Extremely Dangerous. He goes on to prove this time after time over the two-hour duration of the film.

When we first meet Moses, he is engaged in a series of telephone conversations with Sarah (Mary- Louise Parker of Weeds), a customer service agent who works for a government pension office. Moses and Sarah have a real rapport, and after many conversations, they make tentative plans to meet. Their first date, however, won't be as simple as dinner and a movie.

After a failed assassination attempt on Moses, he believes that his conversations have been listened to, and that Sarah's life is also in danger. So he travels crosscountry, and forcibly takes Sarah on a mission to find out who is after him.

Along the way, Sarah and Moses are joined by several of his old comrades-in-arms. We meet Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), a paranoid ex-agent who was given daily doses of LSD as part of a government experiment. Nobody plays these quirky characters like Malkovich, and he hits another homerun here. The dynamic duo of Willis and Malkovich is joined by two of the finest veteran actors out there, Morgan Freeman (as Moses' mentor Joe Matheson), and Helen Mirren (as Victoria, a former assassin who morphed into Martha Stewart). After years of starring in period pieces, it was amusing to see Mirren running around with a machine gun. Maybe she can take over the Rambo franchise.

Nobody does action movies like Willis. Sure, he has also proven himself adept at straight up comedy (The Whole Nine Yards) and drama (Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense), but give the man a gun and some terrorists/assassins to work with, and he is truly at home.

There have been many films about CIA agents getting caught up in this type of espionage. But this film stands above most others in this genre. For one thing, it is fairly easy to follow. That isn't to say that it is dumbed down by any means, it just isn't convoluted. I've watched many of films with similar storylines, and halfway through I can't even remember who is trying to kill whom, and why. That was never a problem with Red. Kudos to Jon and Erich Hoeber for writing a coherent script, and the cast for their excellent work which made me interested in all of these characters.

Red is now available on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download. The DVD and Blu-ray include an audio commentary by a retired CIA field officer, plus a series of two-tothree minute features on the principle cast members.