Red State

Plot synopsis:
Travis (Michael Angarano) notices a fire station siren being removed from its pole and members of the Five Points Trinity Church, led by Abin Cooper (Michael Parks), protesting the funeral of a murdered local gay teenager. Jared (Kyle Gallner), a friend of Travis, reveals he received an invitation from a woman named Sarah Cooper (Melissa Leo) he met on a sex site for group sex with Travis and Billy Ray (Nicholas Braun). They borrow Travis's parents' car and travel to meet her. Along the way, they accidentally sideswipe the vehicle of Sheriff Wynan (Stephen Root), while he was having sex with a man. Afraid, the boys drive off.
Sheriff Wynan returns to the station and tells his deputy Pete (Matt L. Jones) to go and look for the vehicle. Meanwhile, the boys arrive at the woman's trailer. She encourages them to drink, and after being drugged by the beer, they pass out while undressing. Jared wakes up while being moved in a covered cage. He realizes he is in the sanctuary at Five Points after he identifies Cooper. Cooper begins a long, hate-filled sermon before identifying another captive, a homosexual they lured in through an internet chat room. They bind him to a cross using plastic cling wrap, murder him with a revolver and drop him into a small crawl space where Travis and Billy Ray are bound together.
Cooper then begins binding Jared to the cross, but stops when he notices Pete driving up to the church. Travis and Billy Ray use a protruding bone from the corpse to cut themselves free, which is heard by Caleb (Ralph Garman). He lifts up the trap door just in time to see Billy Ray escape and runs after him. Billy Ray is not able to help Travis out of his tight cling wrap cuffs and leaves him for dead. Caleb chases Billy Ray into a room stocked with weapons, where the two shoot each other. Pete hears the gunshots and calls Wynan for back-up, but is shot and killed by Mordechai (James Parks). Cooper then blackmails Wynan, telling him to stay away or he will reveal Wynan's homosexuality to his wife using explicit photos the church has taken of him. In desperation, Wynan calls ATF Agent Joseph Keenan (John Goodman), who begins setting up outside the church.
While the family mourns Caleb, Travis (who had broken free) arms himself and plans to shoot the congregation, but witnesses Jared still being held captive on the cross. Travis makes a run for it, but is mistaken for a congregation member by Wynan and shot. Keenan tries to reason with the family, but ATF Special Agent Brooks (Kevin Pollak) is shot in the head by Coopera and a shoot-out erupts. In the midst of the shooting, Wynan is killed, and Agent Keenan receives a call from ATF higher-ups ordering him to stage a full raid on the complex to ensure that no witnesses remain. Keenan is clearly disturbed by this, but passes on the order to another tactical agent, named Harry (Kevin Alejandro), who also struggles with this decision and argues with Keenan.. Keenan dismisses Harry's protests for personal reasons, rationalizing his decision based on personal gain and the reputation of the ATF. Harry storms off in disgust.
During the shoot-out, Cheyenne (Kerry Bishé) escapes and is captured by an ATF agent (Marc Blucas) who is about to shoot her, but is instead killed by Cheyenne's mother, Sarah. Cheyenne returns to the house and unbinds Jared, begging him to help her hide the congregation's children. Jared refuses and her pleas turn into a fight. Sarah notices them and attacks Jared. Cheyenne tries to break up the fight and accidentally shoots Sarah in the process, killing her. Cheyenne sends the children up into the attic, and Jared changes his mind and decides to help Cheyenne hide the children. They run outside to plead with Keenan to spare the children but are killed by Harry.
The shoot-out is interrupted by a mysterious trumpet blast. The remaining Coopers lower their weapons and run outside rejoicing, claiming that "the Rapture" has come upon them. Abin calmly approaches a stunned ATF team and confidently taunts them that God's wrath is upon the Earth. He raises his arms and stands in the face of a confused and worried Keenan in a moment of triumph, daring him to defy God.
Several days later, during a briefing before high-ranking government officials, Keenan reports that he then head-butted Cooper and took the rest of the congregation into custody. He explains that the trumpet noises were not the Rapture but came from a group of college students who lived down the road and were irritated with Cooper. As a prank they rigged up an old fire house siren to an iPod with loud trumpet noises, unaware of the shootout taking place over the hill. Keenan is promoted despite disobeying a direct order from his superiors at the time to kill everyone at the compound.
Keenan is surprised that he is not punished for his actions but his superiors explain that their initial decision to kill the members of the congregation was mostly personal and that they are satisfied with the alternative punishment of taking away the prisoners' constitutional rights to due process by classifying their crimes as terrorism and locking them up without ever letting them go to trial. Keenan laments this outcome in a story he shares about a couple of hungry brawling dogs he once knew that taught him about the darker side of human nature and the way simple beliefs can turn humans into bloodthirsty animals.
Cooper is finally seen pacing around his cell singing and sermonizing to himself until another prisoner (Kevin Smith) tells him to "shut the fuck up".
=== Original endingEdit ===
During various interactive Q&As for the film, Smith has stated that the original ending continued with the Rapture happening and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse descending on the scene.

Tags: cult, murder, flashback

Review:
Red State is an infuriating movie in many ways, but it is never dull and it always remains challenging, even if some of Smith's sermonising agendas lack cohesion entering the final third of the piece.
I had the honor of seeing a screening of Red State last night at Laser Pacific in Hollywood as part of the Red State of the Union film school program Kevin Smith held.Prior to going in, I refused to read any of the Sundance screening reviews of the film because I wanted to avoid spoilers and go in with a fresh experience.
I had high expectations and I was not disappointed.The film begins with sort of the stereotypical horror movie formula, teenagers go out looking for sex and find themselves staring death in the face.
In fact, Kevin Smith deliberately goes out of his way in this film to keep it far from the typical story arch and structure of most studio movies.
Also John Goodman delivers the goods and has a lot more screen time than the teaser trailer suggests.All in all, I think this film is one of the best films I have seen in the last few years.
But as much as I like the guy, I've never found myself asking, "What would happen if this guy decided to step away from the slacker comedy and make a serious movie -- a horror movie about America, as he sees it?" I never saw this movie coming."Red State" is at its heart a horror movie.
God's Right.With this film, Kevin Smith has risen to the top of my list of People I Most Want To Share Two Too Many Beers With Just So I Can Talk With Them..
However, the true extent of how far they're willing to go due to the demoralization of America will soon be known to their three captives.Smith's films have always been heavy on dialogue, and "Red State" is certainly no different.
The hateful conviction with which Cooper gives his sermon and the psychotic glee when he belittles those who don't share his beliefs are scarily real thanks to the strength of Parks, who never misses a beat.The dialogue and film in general are clearly Smith's take on Fred Phelps and his infamous Westboro Baptist Church, but the film switches gears midway through and throws in some commentary on the Waco/Branch Davidian fiasco as well with the introduction of John Goodman as Joseph Keenan, an ATF agent poised to take out Cooper and his clan.
Smith's film is just as much an indictment against the ATF and government B.S. as it is against those who give religious people a bad name.Goodman gives the other great performance of the film as the ATF agent stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Yes, the performances are pretty good and some of the camera work is exceptional (the escape/chase scene is noteworthy) but overall it's almost like three films in one.
So, a friend of mine won tickets to catch a screening of "Red State"  followed by a Q&A session with Kevin Smith and the cast, which included  Melissa Leo, John Goodman, and more.
Being a fan of Kevin Smiths earlier films (ie Clerks, Mallrats etc) I was extremely disappointed with this amateurish, didactic and boring movie.Firstly, the directing would have been OK if it was a first time directors attempt at making an action movie but coming from someone with so many films under his belt it looked awful.
Smith just attached a steadycam to the actors - a technique that has been used many times before and which didn't fit with the rest of the film.The script was all over the place - going from awful conversational set pieces which didn't flow, to long pointless monologues - in particular the one from the Reverend that was done to show us how awful and bigoted he was which we already understood.
So I go into saying that I hated "Red State" with the firm belief that my intense hatred of Kevin Smith and everything that pours out of his idiotic mouth has nothing to do with my feelings toward the film itself.
I'll admit that there were several scenes I dug, I liked the performances from Michael Parks and John Goodman and part of me almost admired Smith trying to branch away from his usual comedic style.
Everything else is just a horrific pile of drek coming from someone who has proved that if he produces anything other than just that...well, it's a gift from god.To start with, the film suffers from the same basic flaw that has entirely convinced me that Smith is a virtually talentless writer/director; he can't create solid characters if his life depended on it.
Normally I love Kevin Smith films, his back catalogue is mighty impressive with the exception of Cop Out, which I heard he made solely for the money to make Red State.
The thing I think is wrong is that the script changes tone and direction to often, the film starts out excellently as a kinda teen horror, then it becomes an expose of crazy religious types and then it becomes a gun heist movie.
It's a shame because like I said, it begins strongly but it wasn't long before I was totally bored and not giving a damn about any of it.Another thing that is surprising is the obvious clichés used during the final act of the film.
it made me think twice about how good of a filmmaker Mr Smith actually is.One good thing about Red State is the acting, as usual Melissa Leo steals the show with her scenes but everyone in this movie is good.
Maybe I made the mistake of going into this film with high expectations but even so Kevin Smith fails to even come close to the horror and story as promised.This was Kevin Smiths first and final attempt at the horror genre and its quite clear that he was out of his depth when making Red State.
Red State is ultimately a terrible Tarantino knock-off with a poorly written Coen Brothers "inspired" ending.As the Preacher Michael Parks plays a character that seems more demented and drunk then the terrifying and intimidating force he was written to be which is why this film goes off the tracks.
Even as he orders the murders of several people he still comes across as a demented drunk - maybe that's what Kevin Smith was aiming for but for me personally it just didn't work.The shining moment of Red State happens in the back of a caravan and is delivered by the dressed down but always great Melissa Leo. Here in Red State she plays the role of Cathy.
As far as I'm concerned whatever part she's given Melissa Leo hits it out of the park and this is no exception but just wasn't enough to save this film.Both John Goodman and Kevin Pollak were okay as the government agents but they didn't rise above and become anything remarkable.
Red State represents Kevin Smith's attempt to direct a horror movie / thriller, focusing on a Phelps-like family of violent religious fanatics.
Although the film features some good characterization and acting by Michael Parks and Melissa Leo, dubious pacing, weak writing, and the lack of a good protagonist undermine it.Red State suffers from an inability to retain a consistent tone, as it shifts from a buddy comedy to a disturbing horror film to an action movie, and then back to some rather lame laughs.
(It doesn't help that they are played by unexceptional actors.) The film then shifts to a federal agent played by John Goodman, yet the film can't seem to make up its mind whether he is supposed to be a protagonist or an antagonist.In the end, only the two main villains played by Michael Parks and Melissa Leo really stand out as interesting characters.
The script is crap, the direction is worse, and John Goodman obviously needs to fire his agent.If anything, this movie shows the belligerence of the government and the abuse of mass media by another director who thinks his opinion of the world is of interest to others.
I had the opportunity to see Red Statee on March 5th, 2011 at the Radio City Music hall screening followed by a Q&A with Mr. Smith and cast of the movie.
Kevin hits on all cylinders when he does comedy, no mistake about it, but he suffers as a film maker when he attempts other genres (Red State AKA The-Awful-Makes-No-Sense-With-Unlikeable- Characters, Jersey Girl, etc.) Kevin Smith making a horror film is just a terrible idea.
I don't look forward to Hit Somebody, Clerks 2....I'm afraid...was and will be Kevin's last great film, if he retires after making Hit Somebody (why is it a two part movie?) My God, the dialogue in this film and the acting was truly, truly, truly awful.
Don't know how people think this is Kevin Smith's best movie when it clearly isn't.
Kevin Smith could've took this movie into deeper depths and every time I thought it would it kind of flat lined till it got to the end which left me disappointed to the whole idea of the movie in general..
The "religious" people shown in the film are clearly using religion to fulfill sadistic desires, and no religion should be blamed for the actions of a few "nuts." However, what's worse is how the ATF agents are portrayed, which would place them on the same level as Nazi SS guards at death camps if they actually were like this in reality.
Kevin Smith, what was your true intent?Nothing More Nothing LessTitle: Red State Directed by: Kevin Smith Starring: John Goodman, Kyle Gallner, Nicholas Braun, Micheal Angarano & Micheal Park Rated: R for strong violence/disturbing content, some sexual content including brief nudity, and pervasive language Rating: 02/10.
The movie stars Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner, Nicholas Braun and an array of other actors.The Plot is as follows"Three teenagers come across an online personal advertisement from an older woman looking for kinky group sex.
I hate it, you hate it, everyone hates it, I'm pretty sure Kevin Smith hates it, so Silent Bob you owe me one after this, because that was the case with the "Red State".Besides that, I didn't find a single thing on this movie, any detail at all to be really fascinating (EXCEPT from the very ending).
Although I haven't seen all of his films, Kevin Smith's newest movie must be his most risky one to date.
And by the end, you'll honestly say to yourself, "What the f--- is going on?"When the news came out about Kevin Smith (the writer-director of Clerks and Chasing Amy) doing a horror movie, people were surprised and scared of what a mistake it could be.
But no, Kevin Smith loves f--king with us, so naturally, Red State is like a roller-coaster ride that just never stops.The best and certainly most risky part of the film is a 15-minute sermon that lasts for most of the second act.
In short, Red State is the kind of film that could have only succeeded when it was directed by a certain person, and that person was Kevin Smith.
Kevin Smith has returned to indie and his new film Red State is the result.
While I can't fault his professional work as director here, what I can fault is his script, which is all over the place.The first half of the film is a typical teenage horror/torture porn outing as a group of three guys (including FORBIDDEN KINGDOM's Michael Angarano) go looking for a good time and find something that's anything but.
There are many ups and downs, and as Kevin mentioned in the Q&A afterward, it's common to go from laughter to so silent you could hear a pin drop to "oh my God" moments.I absolutely loved this film and think everyone who likes movies should see it.
It suffers a lot of genre problems, the most common would be not writing decent characters, the entire point of making a good horror movie is to have at least one character for the viewer to like because if you don't care about anyone in the movie then all you're doing is spending 90 minutes just waiting for random people to get killed off.
Like the X-Files used to say I want to believe, but a decade of crapulence punctuated only by the momentary goodwill (garnered by existing characters Dante and Randall) and one good LotR joke – is enough to make even the die hardest question their faith And speaking of faith, that is the well that Mr Smith has gone back to this time with Red State.
But this is no Dogma retrofitting to suit his own doubts and ponderations, Red State is a look at the extremists and the lengths they will go to in the name of faith.It was Smith himself who actually sucked me in by describing this film as a 'Nasty-Ass horror flick with few redeeming characters'.
The family decides that it doesn't like the attention none too much And with that decision, Kevin Smith runs out of ideas, the remainder of the film lacks humour, suspense, hooks, stunts of worthwhile action of any kind, let alone the much discussed 'horror' elements.
Hello ladies, and gentlemen,I am here to write a review on the new Kevin Smith Movie Red State.
i have never seen a director change his style this much for a film like Kevin Smith did with Red State, this movie is NOTHING like anything he has ever made before (Clerks, Jay & Silent Bob, and Chasing Amy to name a few of his other flicks).
I haven't seen much of Kevin Smith's other work, but what I have seen has been decent, good even.I wasn't expecting much from Red State, and while it was not a complete waste of time as there were much worse movies released this year, I didn't find the film particularly good either.
I did like the camera work and editing, and the cast are great especially Parks and Goodman.However, Red State is a very unevenly paced movie.
The story mixes horror movie, action movie and social commentary, and unfortunately while somewhat interesting in hindsight these don't translate well on film, and the film suffers from awkwardly choreographed and unexciting action sequences and a lack of tension as a result.Red State's script to me was full of lazy exposition and misplaced humour, while you could tell that Smith had stepped out of his comfort zone, judging by the clumsy mix of ideas he didn't always know what he was doing with this movie.
As it is, Red State feels like Smith is going back to his Clerks roots, in his technical style of filmmaking.
I wasn't blown away by his performance, instead the whole time I kept thinking that he was sick and had health issues.I would recommend this film to any and every Smith fan, just to get their reaction to it.
Red State isn't my favourite Smith film, it's not even his best, but it's one that I admire the most.
Non-American views need to be reminded that in the USA politically the terms 'red' and 'blue' are used in the opposite sense to most other countries, so a red state is a conservative one and this film is set in middle America and revolves around the actions of the fundamentalist, God-fearing, homosexual-hating Five Points Trinity Church of Pastor Abin Cooper (an excellent performance by Michael Parks, especially in the delivery of a 15 minute sermon).
This low budget work, both written and directed by Kevin Smith, is an odd production, starting as a teenage horror movie before morphing into a bloody shoot-out, while satirising both the religious right and the simplistic authorities..
I'm huge fan of Kevin Smith and, although this movie is completely different from what we are used to expect from him, I enjoyed and liked it very much.
I saw this movie without even knowing it was written and directed by Kevin Smith.
Just everything you were expecting from a horror film by Kevin Smith!
I felt like I was watching what Kevin Smith described the movie: A Tarantino Movie with a bit of A Coen Brothers Film!
The joy of watching a Kevin Smith film is always the great dialogue.
This film, to me, went nowhere, there was no real depth to any character, and although Michael Parks & John Goodman made the best out of their roles it was let down by a total lack of any substance.It was difficult to decide whether it was trying to be an action movie, or a comedy.
Yet, the film is saved by two key performances by the veteran actors Michael Parks and John Goodman.Aside from the young men, Smith does manage to convey the dialogue for both the fundamental preacher Abin Cooper and the ageing ATF Agent Keenan perfectly.
'RED STATE': Five Stars (Out of Five)Writer/director Kevin Smith's tenth film is by far his biggest departure, from his norm, to date and I think it's his best film since 1999's 'DOGMA'.
The fact the hype surrounding this is more interesting than the film itself leads me to believe in future Q&A sessions with Kevin Smith, we'll get some information on Red State that may in fact be better than the film we all saw.Starring: John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Michael Parks, Kyle Gallner, Michael Angarano, and Nicholas Braun.
A Good Shill, and Worth It. Although Kevin Smith is little more than a school-boy shill for any theme that is anti-this-or- anti-that, this film is well written, photographed, directed, and acted.
He sure does get an awful lot of screen time, but the truth is, he gives the best performance in this thing.Then Smith loses his way, trying to turn "Red State" from something topical and remotely believable into a hyper kinetic, over the top action movie, complete with ridiculously stylized editing and camera work.