Good flick. I say watch it.

Rating: 7/10 (23 January 2011)

I couldn't help but compare "RED" to the Coen Brothers' "Burn After Reading". Both are comedies centered around preposterous CIA plots, and both feature John Malkovich. For "Retired, Extremely Dangerous" I only lament that the script spent more time setting up a ridiculous plot than giving its' A-List cast dialogue worthy of 3 Oscars (Morgan Freeman,Helen Mirren and Richard Dreyfuss) and 2 Emmies (Brian Cox and Malkovich). Mary-Louise Parker gives one of the best performances in the film as a government clerk who gets dragged into the life and death spy game only because Bruce Willis' retired character takes a shine to her. Karl Urban gets the thankless role as the CIA henchman leading the black ops team trying to exterminate Willis and company.
The plot is entirely too ridiculous to be taken seriously, but the film is also a little flat taken strictly as a comedy. I'll split it down the middle and say it's worth watching if it comes up while you're on a plane, or a rental on a "we're bored" night, if only to watch these excellent actors look like they're having a quite good time.