Movie Review: Red
(by Karl Scott - August 26, 2008)
 Red Rated R for violence, language and Red
Reviewed by Karl Scott
Red is a dog. He is played by Mac a dog actor. He is an old dog and lives with a widower and small town general store owner, portrayed by the original “Hannibal Lecter” actor, Brian Cox.
Red with Mac and Brian is now trying to find a market. As of 8/8/08 it has not found a big screen release and can be seen on High Def TV channels with a probable quick release to DVD in the very near future.
The story is based on a novel by Dallas Mayr, Jr. writing under his pseudonym Jack Ketchum. Author Stephen King is a big Jack Ketchum fan. BC plays a mild mannered polite man of high morals who gets caught up in an upward spiral of violence when teenagers confront him while fishing and kills poor Red out of sheer meanness.
BC does the right thing and appeals to the kids Dad, played by Tom Sizemore, (filmed in between his drug busts and his frequent incarcerations) for justice and truth. Since the TS character is a local guy with cash, the Sheriff won’t help out. BC tries his darndest but might as well ram his head against the wall for all the good his moral and peaceful intentions do him.
Slowly the story moves ahead with a lot of talk about “doing right” and “get off my land” being heard over and over. Eventually the story comes to a head when violence spirals out of control and justice gets done. Or does it?
Filmed in and around Baltimore, MD, Somewhere-In-The-Boondocks, South Carolina, Fillmore and Piru, CA (therefore absolutely no scenes were shot anywhere near Vancouver, Canada). Yeah, right.
BC does an admiral job playing the abused dog’s owner. Tom Sizemore sneers a lot and acts haughtish.
The main bad teen is played by 24 year old actor Noel Fisher who was born in Vancouver, Canada. I just knew there would be a Canadian connection somewhere in the credits.
There is a good understated score by Sorin Hyldgaard and five original songs by a group called “The Green Car Motel”.
In his limited screen time Mac is a stand out.
Rated 2.5 out of 4 reasons to wait for the DVD. It shouldn’t take long.
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