Red Review

Brian Cox is one of those actors that some people may say “who?” about at first. Then you remind those people of all the roles that he has played over the course of his very long career and they say “Oh yeah! I know that guy!”

“Red” is based on the Jack Ketchum novel and stars Cox, Tom Sizemore, and includes Amanda Plummer and Robert Englund. Cox plays Av Ludlow, a store owner living alone in a small town, who, clearly, loves his dog, Red. He is decent fellow, spending his time in his store and going fishing with his faithful companion. Three young men stumble upon Ludlow fishing and right from the start you know this isn’t going to end well. The ringleader, misreading Ludlows kindness, shoots Red and thus begins the tale of revenge.

Ludlow embarks on a journey of justice for the death of his one remaining companion. We learn, over the course of the film, that he is such a lonely man, and when he tells his tale you can watch his heart breaking all over again. It is what drives him to search out for the boys that took his friend from him and all he wants in an understanding of why they did what they did, and an apology. He discovers the boy is the son of a very powerful, very rich local man and events snowball into a tale of sorrow, anger, frustration and, ultimately, violence.

“Red” is a very good film. The characters are real, you may even know these people. The circumstances, while being dramatic, are believable. The chain of events are understandable. My main issue with the film is that it certainly takes its time telling the story, there are some scenes that seem almost too drawn out, creating the feeling that this film is longer than its 98 minute runtime.

I cannot say I agree with Ludlows methodology quite so much, although I felt his sorrow, his frustration, intensely. The audience must have felt it too when roaring cheers accompanied each of this smalltown store-owners little victories. When the main cast is so intimidating, it is easy for the smaller roles to get swallowed up, but in this one the small roles serve to bolster the story and the characters. Noel Fisher, who plays the kids ringleader, Danny, plays the role of disturbed young man so well you may find your skin crawling and your ire rising every time you see him on the screen. It is roles like this that assist roles like Av Ludlow in achieving greatness.

Cox does that very thing with the character of Av Ludlow. You see the madness in his eyes when all he wants to do is have what he percieves as justice done. You see the weight of gloom press down on him when he recalls his family.

While I don’t really see this film as fitting the bill of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, I was very glad to have seen it.