Four Words: Willis, Freeman, Malkovich, Mirren

Rating: 7/10 (18 October 2010)

"Red" is based on the comic book with the same name by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner staring Hollywood legends Bruce Willis (55 years of age and the man that gave the bald headed action hero its birth), Morgan Freeman (73 years of age one of the greatest Hollywood Icons of all time), John Malkovich (56 years of age and the man who have a movie named after him called "Being John Malkovich") and Helen Mirren (65 years of age and one of the literal "Queens" of Hollywood). In "Red" Willis (Frank Moses), Freeman (Joe Matheson), Malkovich (Marvin Boggs) and Mirren (Victoria) show that with age comes acting quality while playing four retired CIA agents who are targets on a hit list created to implement a top secret CIA cover up. These four retired and extremely dangerous action rule the screen when they are present melding action and comedy together. However, their star presence causes all of the other actors in the film to fall into the shadows of the screen. This results in some lackluster moments when they are not on screen. However, when four A list actors are together on one screen you can't expect less than brilliance. This is Bruce Willis's first film since "Live Free and Die Hard" that utilizes his tough guy action hero persona to the best of his ability. He is supported by one of the best casted supporting casts of all time including the aforementioned Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren. However, the performance that stands out the most in the film is that of John Malkovich with his portrayal of the crazy Marvin Boggs and his insanity. He provides many of the moments of comedic mastery with his off the wall character including the funniest scene in the film during the ending sequence. Another stand out performance came from Brian Cox (64 years of age), one of the lesser-known actors in the film that has left his mark on Hollywood on a smaller scale. In the film he plays a Russian Mob Boss named Ivan who has a romantic and comedic personality that is actually the exact opposite of what a mob boss should be. The film struggles greatly when Willis, Freeman, Malkovich and Mirren are off screen. The star power of these four hurts the performances of Mary-Louise Parker (Willis's love interest Sarah Ross) and Karl Urban (the young CIA agent William Cooper whose mission is to kill Willis and company) greatly. They are both decent actors, but are lost in the backdrop with very average and predictable performances. There are multiple scenes in the film that seem to act almost as filler because the writers could not think of a better way to occupy the time. This creates a few discontinuities that take away from the fluent flow of the story time leaving empty spaces between high energy comedy and action scenes. The last problem with the film occurs with Morgan Freemans's lack of screen time making his character seem very unimportant. If you are paying Morgan Freeman to be in a movie you need to abuse his talents!!! Director Robert Schwentke has produced a film that he knows his audience is enjoying and having fun. The entertainment value of this film is very high because of the confidence that Schwentke exudes through his filming style of "Red." He has very good reason to be confident with the cast that he has. I recommend seeing it now just to see the on screen match up of these four stars.