Red State (2011) * 1/2

Directed by : Kevin Smith

Starring: John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Michael Parks

This is Kevin Smith's first non-comedy film. There are many who didn't laugh during Cop Out that may dispute this. Here, he tries his hand at a politically charged thriller ripped from the headlines....if those headlines were written back in 1993, when ATF agents raided the compound of cult leader David Koresh. The plot here echoes that, but Smith is unable to make a compelling film out of it.

Red State is a film with plenty of dialogue, which isn't unusual for a Smith film. On at least three occasions, however, there are monologues which drag on and on and grind the film to a halt. But at least none of those involved Superman or Star Wars, or is that really a blessing in this case?

The plot starts with three horny teenagers answering an online ad for a gangbang from a supposed prostitute (Melissa Leo), who instead drugs the lads and imprisons them in the cult compound of Abin Cooper (Michael Parks), a gray-haired religious yahoo who isn't above murdering those who are sinners in his eyes. Who are sinners? Pretty much anyone who isn't exactly like he or his brainwashed followers. In a hyper-religious time we appear to live in now, the comparisons to Fred Phelps are purely intentional.

No doubt this is a scary setup which sets the film on a level of a nightmare, but then Cooper expounds on his views in a nearly 10-minute long sermon which had me screaming for the nearest film editor. Clearly Smith didn't realize that less was more in displaying Cooper as a maniac using the Bible to disguise his sociopathic ways. Not one word of this sermon is memorable and rambles on like many less violent televangelical ravings you may see on TV every day.

It is soon (I won't reveal how here for the sake of space) that the compound is surrounded by ATF agents led by John Goodman and a bloody, seemingly endless shootout occurs. Cult members and non-cult members alike have their heads blown off and spurt lots and lots of blood. The odd thing here is that both the cult and the agents are seen as amoral, unsympathetic creeps and thus any rooting interest is taken away. Smith seems to direct his rage at everyone involved, which may be credible and even realistic, but dramatically shapeless.

When there is a shootout and many, many lives at stake, is it too much to ask that we care that anyone lives?

The ending of the film is odd as well. I won't give it away, except to say that it allows another several minutes of pontification by one of the characters when we've had our fill of pontification. I couldn't help but compare this ending to that of No Country For Old Men. This may be the only time I will ever compare Red State to No Country For Old Men in any capacity.