Review of Red State (2011) by Timothy S — 27 Sep 2014

Sometimes all it takes for a once promising filmmaker to pull out of a slump is to pull a complete 360 and shake things up a bit. "Red State" is about as far-removed as you can get from your typical Kevin Smith project, but it's also the most compelling film he's made in years.

Clearly based on the shameful antics of Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church, the film takes an even scarier approach to similar religious zealots, and it was clearly a labor of love for the director. Whether you agree or not with Smith's take on religion, Christianity, gun control or any of the other Hot Button issues he attempts to broach here, you simply cannot deny what a skillfully made picture this is.

Smith is obviously never afraid to go-for-broke in whatever genre he finds himself working in, and in this case, that results in one of the most daring pictures I've seen all year. Michael Parks resurrects his career right out of the ashes with his mesmerizing performance here, but the real star is John Goodman giving one of the best performances of his career as the ATF agent in charge. It's so different from anything he's ever done that I was continually amazed scene after scene, leading to his concluding moment that amazed me yet again. It's an unique way to wrap up the proceedings (Smith once again thinking outside the box), and Goodman nails it perfectly.

"Red State" will clearly not be a popular film with a certain section of the population, and that made me like it even more. I was able to enjoy it based upon it's merits.