Red (2010)

Most people who goes to see 'Red' know exactly what they are getting themselves into. A light-hearted action comedy featuring a parade of commercially and critically lauded stars? It is a pretty easy commitment to make. The more unexpected parts of the movie are the strength of the supporting cast and the overall slickness of the script itself. This movie was virtually guaranteed to be enjoyable due to the cast alone but, admirably, it has aspired to be more.

As expected, the main cast are uniformly brilliant. Every time Frank Moses(Bruce Willis) encounters an old acquaintance, the air becomes thick with implied relationships and past experiences. The bond between the characters in the film is really an allegory to their relationships as actors: they all have been hardened professionally from their years of experience in the business. A sense of mutual respect resonates throughout the film. The audience knows all of these older actors and, as such, quickly engages with their characters in the context of the film. It does not take long for us to start imagining their working together when they were younger, giving a tremendous depth to the characters without the need to bloat the script with lengthy scenes of exposition.

Impressively, the other actors manage to complement the top billing very well. Mary Louise-Parker plays Sarah Ross, a lonely middle-aged woman who manages to get tangled up in the spy games around her. Her character is unexpectedly endearing compared to the 'damsel in distress' that I was expecting. Louise-Parker plays her as a strong willed woman with a (somewhat unsettlingly) positive outlook on the dangerous events in the film. Her face often fills up with childlike wonder as she imagines the excitement of life on the road with a spy- not the usual weak-willed, throw away love interest! Karl Urban, who plays FBI Agent Cooper, is one of the youngest members of the cast but has an extremely impressive presence on the screen. His introduction scene blends a cold physical exterior with an emotional personality as he calmly talks to his family on the phone whilst assassinating a target: something that may sound cheesy on paper but works extremely well given the tone of the film.

The primary reason that the characters are so important is that the script is surprisingly dialogue-heavy. When the action scenes come they are short and snappy, never outstaying their welcome. This means that the characters themselves carry the film, rather then the cinematography. I found myself in a similar situation as to when I saw 'Iron Man' a few years ago, where I found myself more interested in a phone conversation between characters then the action sequence that followed it. To my mind, this is a healthy direction for films as it allows the focus to be put more on acting and less on expensive special effects and frills. In most films the technical side should be supporting the acting, not the other way around. Action films have traditionally been particularly guilty on cutting corners with scripts in favour of extra explosions, and I am grateful that 'Red' did not.