For Honor, Love, and Laughs

Rating: 9/10 (4 December 2010)

In a breathtaking sequence Bruce Willis's Frank Moses swerves his car protecting Mary-Louise Parker's Sarah Ross on-board. As the car door opens, Frank steps out, draws his Gloch, and fires into the Navigator windshield with CIA lead William Cooper (Karl Urban) behind the wheel. Retired CIA operative Frank hasn't lost his edge. "RED" is an enjoyable surprise. Director Robert Schwentke keeps it fast, furious, and fun working from the taut clever screenplay by Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber. "RED" is based on the DC Comic by Warren Ellis and Cully Hammer. RED stands for Retired and Extremely Dangerous. In "RED" the CIA's most deadly retired agents find themselves targets of a covert assassination conspiracy. Now forced rogue, they must unravel the principle thread, and kill the man responsible.
The charm of "RED" underlies its character and singularity. What culminates in "RED" is its story of honor. Bruce Willis is awesome, and at his grizzled best. I love Mary-Louise Parker, who is both quirky and sexy. Morgan Freeman is whimsically powerful. John Malkovich is completely out there as paranoid freak job Marvin. Karl Urban is amazing. As William Cooper, the CIA agent assigned to terminate Frank, he is a charismatic presence governed by a noble cause. Director Schwentke brilliantly blurs the line between good and bad, distinguishing the noble cause beyond their borders.
Isolated Frank (Willis) fosters a romantic relationship with Sarah (Parker) over the phone. She is the government employee, who issues Frank his monthly pension checks. Frank is the self-imposed recluse in snowbound Cleveland. Sarah inhabits her florescent lit cubicle in the Kansas City Office. She daydreams of escaping the daily grind. Be careful what you wish for.
Frank musters up the courage to ask Sarah out for a date, having business in Kansas City. Under Black Ops surveillance, a kill team strikes Frank's residence. However, Frank brutally dispatches the team with firepower and martial arts skills. Realizing the deadly conspiracy, Frank kidnaps Sarah. She admits later, " not my best first date." Sarah reluctantly distinguishes that she is dead without Frank. On the road and on the run they reunite with Frank's team mate Joe (Freeman) at a senior's home in New Orleans. Joe has terminal cancer. Obtaining more mission intelligence, Frank and Sarah meet up with Marvin (Malkovich), survivalist holdout and Ops LSD victim.
They thwart more kill teams. In desperate resort, Frank brazenly infiltrates Langley. He obtains the Top Secret file from archive keeper played by reliable Ernest Borgnine. Frank violently schools Cooper (Urban), and barely escapes. Losses are taken; his team seeks refuge with semi-retired Victoria (amazing Helen Mirren) at her bed and breakfast in Virginia. The "band is back together". Apparently their operation in Guatemala 30 years ago is the fatal tie. Their assassination orders may come from the highest chain of command.
Frank has a possible weakness or power—he is falling for Sarah—"I really like her." Motherly Victoria confides, "Frank, you're such a romantic." On the snow covered knoll armed with her sniper rifle Victoria warns Sarah that "if you break his heart", she will hunt her down, kill her, and bury her in the woods. Wide-eyed Sarah says, "OK." This is the guilty pleasure of "RED". "RED" has a comic convolution and paradoxical gravitas. The cast is impeccable. Mirren is awesome. As Victoria she also compromised a past mission shooting her lover Ivan (the great Brian Cox) 3 times in the chest, following orders. At the moving story arc, Willis hugs Freeman, saying, "It's been an honor." Schwentke expertly balances the vibrant action, whimsy, and gravity. Ultimately, "RED" is about fighting for the just cause, for love, and for honor. That is worth going to movies.