Delightful!

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2019)

Somehow this film arrived in theatres, had a very successful run, appeared on Pay TV and was released on home video, and I managed not to be aware of it's presence. 9 years later I stumbled on to it on Amazon, and since it was available on 4K UHD Blu Ray, I bought it expecting another worn out Bruce Willis action flick. I finally gave it a spin last night and was delighted beyond words. Bruce Willis smiled more in this film than he did in all other films he starred in combined. John Malkovich absolutely steals the show playing a slightly deranged conspiracy theorist who's every line is on-the-floor funny. Helen Mirren surprises by playing a retired MI-6 agent, who's as tough as James Bond, and Brian Cox stars as a Russian agent with a knack of always showing up just in time. Then there's Mary-Louise Parker as Bruce Willis' love interest. She's a bored telephone customer service rep, who's dragged into a world of good guys and bad guys with an endless arsenal. Morgan Freeman also stars in an all-to-brief appearance rounding out the team who go up against the CIA, FBI, and even Richard Dreyfus as an arms dealer and political puppeteer. Karl Urban and Rebecca Pidgeon top the list of people tracking and trying to kill Willis and the team, with a couple of plot twists, and lots of humor thrown in for good measure. This film is described as an action-comedy and it delivers on both fronts. I can't mention Red without mentioning Ernest Borgnine, who has a short, but delightful role as the keeper-of-the records at the CIA. It's 1 hour and 51 minutes of pure delight, start to finish. When it was over, I jumped back on Amazon and ordered the sequel, Red 2. The reviews aren't the best, but if it's half as good as the original it'll be money well spent.