Red State
(2011)
By Jason Marsiglia
Out of 4
Boy, those Westboro Baptist Church assholes had this one coming, didn’t they?
Those charming Kansas rednecks with that Hallmark slogan “God Hates Fags”, who picket funerals for dead soldiers and spout vile, contemptible hate speech during gay rallies and stuff? I’m sure you’ve heard of them on the news, and hell, maybe even in that excellent (though thoroughly chilling and infuriating) BBC documentary The Most Hated Family in America, and if not, well…they’ve been on Jerry Springer a number of times, if that tells you anything about their class. They also recently used an iPhone to slam the death of Steve Jobs for creating sinful technology. Ahhh, rednecks. Without your wisdom, we’d have no “America’s Funniest Videos” and then I’d really be pissed. I’m not worried…they can’t read this, and the hour of shameless laughter I get every Sunday night will always remain in tact.
I wouldn’t have expected Hollywood to have the balls to take a swipe at these assholes, because, sorry, Hollywood “plays it safe”. If anyone was going to grind their heel into the cigarette that is WBC, or Right-wing religious fanaticism, it was going to take an indie filmmaker, with just the right amount of Christian background counter-balanced by the raw, ball-busting, satirical bites of a comedy writer, who can expose the utter hypocrisy of these groups in a smart, no-nonsense way.
Who better than Kevin Smith, who, for all I know, is still receiving death threats for his brilliant religious satire Dogma from 1999. After the utter downpour of hate and controversy that surrounded that film – which, by the way, also starred his signature stoners Jay and Silent Bob, alongside a stripping Salma Hayek and a demon made of feces – you would wonder why Smith would tackle religion again. Why would you shake that hornet’s nest twice?
I think it’s just time, really. Things in this country are going to shit and now you’ve got religious groups who claim that budget deficits, natural disasters and massive job loss are the work of a God who hates liberals and sinners and homosexuals. Not the loving, caring, forgiving, ever-patient and compassionate God we’ve been told exists in church or described in The Bible. No, no – this is the “old-school” God. The fire and brimstone God, the “flood the planet and start over” God. And usually these groups use The Bible to justify their violent, hateful behavior.
Enter the Five-Points Trinity Church led by Pastor Abin Cooper (played to an icy perfection by Michael Parks, who, for my money, should at least get an Oscar nod). In an obvious mirror to WBC, Smith creates a similar group of fanatics, picket signs and all. However, the twist here is that this group have created a lurid web site with the promise of just about any scandalous form of sex you can imagine – sort of a “Craigslist” of fucking. Three high school boys go on an American Pie style pilgrimage to hop into the sack with a woman who claims she wants all three at once.
Once they’ve arrived, they’re immediately attacked, bound and held captive, to be used as an “example” in a horrifying sermon that ends with what can only be considered a public execution ala The Salem Witch Trials. When gunshots are heard through a police radio, an ATF team is sent in, and the situation explodes into a full-blown hostage crisis, with ATF agent John Goodman stuck between bullets and bureaucracy.
While the second half of Smith’s Red State is pretty much just a gun-for-gun showdown, the first half is truly frightening and nerve-wracking material. Smith pulls no punches, and completely removes any trace of humor from the situation. It’s clear he takes these religious-skewering zealots seriously, and the film is handled in the grimmest of tones. In fact, were it not for the always-reliable dialogue so signature to Smith’s films, I’d not have guessed this to be a Smith movie at all. The grit of the cinematography, the air of tension and unsettling nature of the material is such a departure for him, that it’s poster – in Smith’s own, self-deprecating way – even includes a small blurb beneath the title citing that it’s “an unlikely film from that Kevin Smith”.
He knows this will divide some of his fans, but I’m sure he knew it would polarize most who seen it in general. The performances are top notch by the cast, built from not one of Smith’s “regulars” (unless you count his wife Jennifer who appears briefly). Obviously Goodman (who simply doesn’t, as a general rule, turn in a bad performance in anything he does) is fantastic as the ATF team lead. The nearly angelic presence of former “Scrubs” star Kerry Bishe proves her worth as the granddaughter of preacher Cooper. She’s got a pain, a conflict and intensity that made her performance heartbreaking. Also as effective, Melissa Leo as her mother – a gnashing, bloodthirsty woman who has a white-hot hate for the sinners of her church and reminded me a whole lot of Piper Laurie in Carrie. She’s nearly as frightening (and convincing) as Parks, who again, steals the show in a career-defining performance as Preacher Powell. Just the night mass scene alone is enough to crawl under your skin, as he delivers a horrifying sermon, justifying the church’s right to kill those they feel are “Godless” and sinful, and how it’s hardly breaking a Commandment if those being murdered (homosexuals, adulterers, etc) aren’t “human” in their eyes. It’s a powerful, eerie and chilling sequence, punctuated by Parks’ uncanny ability to sound both like a kindly grandfather telling a story, and the devil himself, lowing his tone to a grave, gritty growl.
Red State might anger a good portion of its viewers, but those who know “the type” that Smith is exposing will not only feel familiar with the way Christianity is being bastardized in those churches, but worse, might know someone just like them living next door.
C: Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Kyle Gallner, Kerry Bishe. D: Kevin Smith. Sub genre: Thriller. Time: 88 minutes. Ratio: (1.85:1) Widescreen. Rated R: Graphic violence, strong sexual references, pervasive language, brief nudity and strong religious and sexual themes.
The Best Digital Bang For Your Hard-Earned Buck:
First off, if it’s supplements you’re after, you can go either way – it’s one of those steadily dwindling instances where the extras are identical on both discs. At that point, you’re simply choosing whether to spend more money on the Hi-Def or not.
First up we have a 2-Part Documentary called “The Making of Red State” that runs the combined length of about 45 minutes or so. This is compiled mostly of behind the scenes footage and interviews with Smith and cast members. However, it REALLY gets interesting when they start talking about how the Westboro Baptist Church actually attended a screening and – unsurprisingly – left the theater after about 7 minutes or so in an offended huff. Ha ha! Mission: Accomplished. WBC promptly protested the film, as expected. Gotta love riling those idiots up.
This next feature is pretty original, yet for Smith’s DVD’s, is to be expected, as he continues to embrace digital media and doing something new on each film’s release. It’s 7 “Webisode” Smodcasts called “Red State of the Union” Smodcasts. These seven pod casts from Smith’s site not only go into almost every facet of the production (with and without cast and crew, depending on the ones you listen to), that actually serve as a series of Audio Commentaries for the film. Interesting stuff indeed, and very funny.
The Sundance Speech with Intro by Kevin Smith is the documented speech he gave at the festival where he (rather infamously) announced that he was going to distribute and tour the film himself, outside of studio interference. Runs about 30 minutes.
One of the more interesting features is the Conversation with Michael Parks with an intro by Kevin Smith. Here, we get to hear Michael talk about his role as the evil pastor and how he prepared for it. He also gives his take on the themes of the film and character. Very cool stuff.
Around 30 minutes or so of Deleted Scenes with, of course, an intro by Smith, and rounding everything out the Trailers and Poster Art Gallery, with – you guessed it – intros by Kevin Smith.
For a film that didn’t get the widest release (or virtually ANY studio support), leave it to the Supplement-generous Smith and the always-willing-to-take-a-chance Liongate to deliver a quality edition of easily, one of the best films of the year.
Sequels: None.
Remakes: None.
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