Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Red (2010)

Red (2010). I had an unexpected day off from work yesterday. My kids were off for President's Day. We didn't know until Friday around 6pm when the school district emailed a "Just for clarification" email to explain/confirm the dates of make-up for the four missed ice/snow days near the first week of February. Anyway this led to me having to take a vacation day because I could not find any one to pawn my children off to. Now granted they are probably old enough to "take care" of themselves for eight hours during the daytime but a good excuse is the best excuse to take an unexpected day off. Besides, we had workers coming to the house and we needed it to be empty for them to work.

Anyhow, that was great of the district to let us know of the day off the Friday evening before the weekend before the day off.

I have had this movie in my possession way too long for my BBTAP membership. I think it's been like 2-3 weeks since I rented them. That's too damn long to fit into my cost-worth analysis.

The kids and I ended up watching this movie together. It's rated PG-13. There wasn't much bad in it other than cursing, some occasional blood, and some not-so-graphic assassinations/killings.

The movie was actually entertaining and funny. The kids thought it was fairly funny too. I was kind of bummed (spoiler alert) that Joe, Morgan Freeman's character, didn't survive the movie. I guess I can see the point as he went out doing what he knew and loved instead of letting his terminal cancer kill him slowly and painfully. Some people commented that they felt Malkovich was over the top and too high on LSD. I thought he played it perfectly. Willis' character is typical Willis these days: comedic ex-military specialist/killer/etc. Freeman's character was minimal but it was similar to a few of his recent/past roles: retired expert in whatever field he retired from. Mary Louis Parker's character was forgettable other than how attractive Parker has gotten over the years. I think her role could have been written out or differently but I don't think it was a central catalyst in the movie. She's still pretty hot in a weird kind of way. Helen Mirren is one of the hottest "old broads" I've seen in film these days. There's something about her that just hits a nerve within me. I can't explain it but it's a little weird to me in a cool way...like I want to see her topless just as much as Parker. I thought Mirren's character was well done and they explained and weaved her story well within the group. SPOILER ALERT! I almost cried when I thought she was going to die after gettig shot in the hip area. Richard Dreyfuss had a pivotal but small part. I don't recall seeing him in a movie in some time. It looks like he may have had some facial work done. Dreyfuss' role was short and sweet and not overdone.

Overall, I didn't know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised and entertained. By all means, this is no award-winning film but it did the job it was supposed to do and did it fairly well which was enjoyable entertainment.

Nothing against the movie but I'm still a cheap ass so I would recommend this movie if you can get the $1 Redbox price or something under $3.

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