Spot-on casting

Rating: Null/10 (15 October 2010)

"I was hoping you'd have hair . . ." Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker)
We know Bruce Willis doesn't have hair, but like his reluctant companion, Sarah, on a picaresque around America, we think he's cool because of the lack. And so Red goes, a comedy-adventure about the CIA pursuing one of its retired agents, Frank Moses (Willis), who needs to consult with old friends to find out why he's a target.
A slick comic-book adaptation, Red (Retired: Extremely Dangerous) carries off its satire of the action genre with spot-on casting and never a moment of taking itself seriously. Not that I ever doubted Willis can't handle a younger partner (see Moonlighting) as he does here with Parker in one of the year's best pairings, superior to the also reluctant Cameron Diaz with Tom Cruise in the similar Knight and Day, which had Cruise as a rogue operative and Diaz as the potential romantic partner. Willis and Parker are just more relaxed about the violence and love mix.
It's the supporting cast that makes this movie so much fun, from a gun-toting ex-assassin played by ever-attractive Helen Mirren to a sodden Russian mobster played with relish by Brian Cox, but not to neglect Richard Dreyfuss as another heavy with a light touch. All are having fun (Ernest Borgnine makes an appearance as well), adding to the growing thesis that aging stars still are as bright as ever, and maybe brighter than the younger crop of hyper Bournes and Bonds.
More than one critic has labeled the Expendables, Gran Torino, Bucket List, et.al. as geri-actioners, and I like the tag