"Red" is short for "Retired-Extremely Dangerous," which describes to a T Bruce Willis' character. A retired black ops agent, he now spends his days keeping in shape and getting chatty with Mary-Louise Parker over the phone. It is almost a relief when a new black ops squad tries to take Bruce out. Now he must go and get his only line girl friend before they shoot her and gather a team of fellow retired agents to find out what is going on and stop it.
This is an action film that doesn't forget to be FUN. Morgan Freemen, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich all take turns showing younger actors how it is done. They even dusted off Ernest Borgnine for a brief role as a CIA records keeper. If there is a sequel a can see this becoming a franchise for actors over a certain age to fire guns and play james (or jane) bond.
John Malkovich is great fun as Marvin who was given LSD every day for 11 years. He's a bit twitchy and nuts, but he has a great intuitive sense and still can shoot. Don't ever call him an old man! Bruce Willis does his usual workman like job and holds everything together. Both Morgan and Helen are just plain classy in their roles. Definitely fun for everyone!
STRANGE SPANNERS being an accounting of strangeness of the warp and woof of my mind For those of you new here, think of this as 1/2 "Night Gallery" Our Motto: Nos somnium quisnam es futurus fatum quod insolitus tutus vos!
I agree wholeheartedly with your review Lazarus. Brilliant cast, fun story and action. These actors are timeless--loved watching Mirren handle the weapons, no blinking and dead-on aimed instead of the crap you see with the youngsters shooting! Even Dreyfus as a foil was great, mild mannered as always, but a different side of the fence... (Malkovich played this much straighter than he has any other recent roles, which was a pleasant break)
ReplyDeleteActually wouldn't mind a sequel with this cast.