Small towns in the middle of nowhere are made for the movies. To onlookers, a city like Red Rock would be a quaint checkpoint under the umbrella of a long-winded road trip, perfect for a pit stop and a quick bite to eat. Stay there too long, though, and you'll find yourself desperate for entertainment, money, love, and more. Maybe that's why the characters in Red Rock West are so cold-blooded.When the film was first introduced to audiences during the Toronto Film Festival in 1993, it was immediately well-received, a neo-noir praised for its uncommon quality. Distributors weren't as smitten. When its domestic rights were sold to Columbia Tri-Star, a theatrical release was out of the question. "The film doesn't fall neatly into any marketable category. A western film noir isn't something people can immediately spark to," the head of the marketing department of Polygram declared. So it was disregarded, branded as a cable and direct-to-video product. It was shown on HBO seven times in the fall, but the small-screen, after all, is certainly not a distinguished place for a movie to be shown, especially one that should be taken seriously.But just as things could not have gotten any worse, they suddenly became better: When Bill Banning, the owner of San Francisco's famous Roxie Cinema, saw Red Rock West for the first time, he disagreed with the distribution it was receiving. Surely, the film had an audience. And after a year of trying to secure the rights, his faith in the film paid off; it became such a box-office smash at the Roxie that it eventually was given a proper limited release, becoming an art-house favorite within a few weeks.Normally, I wouldn't go so deeply into the backstory of a film that came out more than 20 years ago, but as of 2015, Red Rock West still feels like a classic waiting in the wings, desperately wanting to be discovered by another Banning. Even after all the ruckus it made throughout 1993- 1994, it remains a hidden gem, deserving to sit on the same golden throne that Blood Simple currently lounges on.A drifter in the same caliber as John Garfield in The Postman Always Rings Twice, Michael Williams (Nicolas Cage) finds himself in the city of Red Rock after failing to acquire a promising oilfield job. When he stops by a local bar to wash away his sorrows, he is confronted by the owner, Wayne Brown (J.T. Walsh), who mistakes him for a hit-man he hired to kill his wife, Suzanne (Lara Flynn Boyle). Michael is young and stupid, so when Wayne offers him an eye-grabbing stack of cash, he fails to correct him that he's actually Michael Williams from the Navy, not Lyle from Dallas.Being the nice guy that he is, he breaks into the Brown home, hoping to warn Suzanne that she's in grave danger. But when the real hit-man (Dennis Hopper) shows up, Michael finds himself tangled in a net of lust and sin that can only end badly. And it surely doesn't help when he becomes romantically involved with Suzanne.In the ashen throes of the film noir genre, there is almost always a recurring feeling of déjà vu; once you've seen a disciple with a drifter, a femme fatale, and a shady husband mixing it up, you've probably seen them all. Film noir has hardly changed since its peak years (the 1940s and '50s), yet it has maintained a startling freshness in the same way comic books have. You may have experienced every storyline possible, but the way those story lines are told, with hard-bitten cynicism and dark alleyway peril, have infinite allure.Red Rock West is a consistent delicacy, a greatest hits album of film noir adventures. Look at the way a cigarette dangles on Lara Flynn Boyle's kissable lips. Look at the way Dennis Hopper handles his gun, like a detective flying off-the-rails of his sanity. John Dahl is a director who knows his movies — after only a few minutes into the film do you get the sense that Murder, My Sweet and Raw Deal are not just B- movies to him, but cookbooks, its recipes lingering in the cinematography and the writing.Red Rock West isn't without its issues: Music plays when a scene should be strictly silent, destroying any tension waiting to be had, and it would have been interesting if the film had explored Michael and Suzanne's relationship as thickly as Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson's. But two minor flaws can hardly deter the success of a film as striking as Red Rock West. Ignoring the disconcerting violence that plagued the majority of '90s independent neo-noirs, the film is deliciously old-fashioned and deliciously stylish.

The plot is so complicated that it becomes simple after a while since everyone is crooked and all are twisted and there is no straight criminal in this film, no honest citizen either. Everyone is trying to take the others unawares and fool them around and get out of the trap with the money and apart form the only one who was not a criminal at the start, no one will get anything out of this case: all the money will end up in the bushes or in the sheriff's office, once the sheriff has been taken care of. So just follow the ranting story and try not to rave into some nightmare during the night. It is just entertainment and just silly mushy mucky thieving business with all the thieves trying to rob all the others of their shares. But it is true the plot is so tricky it will bring surprises all the time. But be careful there might be a con man or a hit man behind every single tree of this treeless waste land in Wyoming whose only way out is the train.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Taking a look at a poll that was held on the IMDb Classic Film board for the best movies of 1993,I found myself getting constantly drawn towards a Neo-Noir called Red Rock West,due to having heard a large amount of praise for the title over the year.Sadly,with the price of the DVD being pretty expensive,I regrettably decided to push any plans to take a look at this tantalising Neo-Noir to the side.2 weeks later:Being happily caught completely by surprise,I recently received an offer from a very kind IMDb'er ,who asked if I would be interested in borrowing the DVD of the film,which led to me excitingly getting ready to pay a long over due visit to Red Rock West.The plot:Angered over getting turned down for a construction job due to having an injury which he picked up in the Vietnam war,Michael Williams drives towards a small town called Red Rock West,after getting advised by a gas station worker to pay a visit to a bar in the town called Wayne's Place,where there is a good chance that Williams will be able to pick up a bar staff job.Finding Wayne Brown at the front of the bar,Michael decides to not reveal his full background details to Brown,when Wayne asks Williams if he is "The Lyle who has come here for a job?".Pretending to be Lyle,Williams expectations of being given a bar job by Brown are left in ruins,when Wayne reveals to him that "Lyle" has not been hired to work at the bar,but has in fact been chosen by Brown to be a hit-man for his wife.View on the film:Placing the dark heart of this Neo-Noir in a full to the brim whisky bottle,co-writer/ (along with his brother Rick) director John Dahl and cinematography Marc Reshovsky soak the film in a warm Neo-Noir Western atmosphere,with Dahl and Reshovsky shooting the movie in brilliant sun setting colours,which along with allowing every member of the cast face's to have a world weary quality about them,also allows Reschovsky and Dahl to show the dark secrets that all the residence of Red Rock West are desperately trying to keep out of the light.Continuing with the underlying Western theme in the excellent screenplay,John and Rick Dahl show the Wyoming town of Red Rock West to be a fading sun-lit Neo-Noir world,where everyone knows each others secrets and deals on how the town is run are made by secret drinks,and beer stained back-hander's,which is seriously threatened of being buckled,by the arrival of two "outlaws" from Texas,one being an unlucky soul who is at the wrong place,at the very worst time,and the other one being a black-clad wearing gunslinger,who wants to take the power of the town all for himself.Being given the chance to sizzle on the screen as this Neo-Noir's sole Femme Fatale,I was disappointed to find Lara Flynn Boyle give a rather frozen performance as Suzanne Brown,with Boyle failing to blend into John Dahl wonderful shadowy world,and also being unable to give the dialogue the fizzle that it richly deserves.Whilst Boyle sadly fails from setting the fuse off,the rest of the cast thankfully attack the movie with a burning hot,ten ton hammer,with J.T. Walsh giving an tremendous performance as Wayne Brown,thanks to Walsh showing Brown to go gradually more desperate for the killing of his wife to take place,and Walsh also taking full advantage of Dahl's stylish directing,by using the close ups to reveal the darkened lies and dirty deals that lay behind the scar's on Wayne's face.Entering this Neo-Noir like a fire breathing dragon,Dennis Hooper gives a fiery performance as the "real" Lyle,with Hooper showing Lyle's initially well meaning first appearance to be quickly slashed away and replaced by an outlaw whose only language is increasing the dirty money that is placed in his hands.Kept right at the centre for the whole of the film,Nicolas Cage gives an extremely strong performance,which carefully balances Michael Williams being a down to earth.down on his luck guy,with an increasing,potential deadly desire to get hold of the cash and the woman that are both just out of William's reach,which leads to Red Rock West being a gravel road that is defiantly worth travelling down.

Love him or hate him (and since he named his kid after Superman he's dropped a peg in my book), Nicolas Cage at least takes chances with his films. Sometimes this is disastrous and sometimes worthwhile, and realistically he hasn't appeared in a really good movie since "Adaptation" in 2002.But Cage ruled the 90's, in between the commercial stuff like Con Air, The Rock and Face/Off he continued taking chances with his choices with Wild At Heart and Leaving Las Vegas. Red Rock West was made in between his indie period of the late 80's and the blockbuster guy of the mid to late 90's, it's a pretty good movie but you can see why articles don't say things like "Nicolas Cage, of Leaving Las Vegas and Red Rock West fame…."Strongly reminiscent of some of the Coen brothers early stuff, Red Rock West has more twists and turns than 12 garden variety whodunit thrillers combined. Cage stars as Michael, a man down to his last few dollars that is coming to an end of a long trek to start a new job on an oil drilling site, only due to a military service injury he is knocked back by the boss.So now he is still broke, out of fuel and disenchanted, Michael heads into the nearest town hoping to find work. A couple of early incidents show us he's an honest and ethical guy, the kind of guy that calls a woman "Ma'am".Now the next bit can be described, but after the movie is half over the plot becomes impossible to explain simply without major spoilers as reality changes from one minute to the next.So, Michael heads to the local pub and orders a coffee, the barman sees his car parked outside and because of the Texas license plate decides he is the man he is waiting for "Lyle from Texas". As the mistaken identity involves paid employment Michael goes along with the mistake, until he finds out that the job is to kill Wayne the barman's wife. Rather than straight out saying No Michael takes the cash and heads to Wayne's home.Somehow Michael happens upon the wife riding a horse to where she is having some hanky-panky with another farmhand, it's never really explained how he knew she would be there but who cares? Michael then goes to the house and waits for her return, when they meet he explains why he is there, and Suzanne (played by 25 kg Lara Flynn-Boyle) calmly counter offers Michael, at double the rate, to kill Wayne instead.Again Michael agrees, only this time he says enough and decides to "Lock it in Eddie", taking the cash with the sole intention of buggering off. Now in non-Hollywood this would be the end of it, but because a movie can't be over in 45 minutes we follow Michael as he leaves town in the rain. Here's where the twists get hectic, I'll summarise the next 15 minutes:Michael hits someone in his car and takes them to the local hospital. (He's a nice guy remember?) - The Sheriff turns out to be the last person Michael needs to see, Wayne. - Wayne is a bit miffed at the perceived double cross and decides to off Michael. - Michael escapes, runs off and is picked up by Dennis Hopper, who is, you guessed it: Lyle from Texas!I can't explain much more without spoilers and confusion, only from here on in the remainder of the film revolves around Suzanne, Wayne, Michael and Lyle, and includes a myriad of twists and turns, deception, betrayal and double crossing galore. Everything a grown movie needs really.Wayne is played by JT Walsh, usually a bit player in other movies and I have always felt he is a bit over the top.Dennis Hopper is always ultra-hammy, and is almost cartoonish here.Lara Flynn-Boyle is surprisingly low key through most of the film, and has flawless skin regardless of the circumstances.Cage plays the troubled hero part to the hilt, he's the prototype for the nice guy in a situation that he wants to avoid but can't.The finale is in keeping with the rest of the film and is fairly satisfying.If I might digress momentarily, at one stage Michael walks into a bar and says "Give me a beer", now I have walked into many bars and know if I ever say that the bartender will say something along the lines of "Which one d**khead?" Since the dawn of time even the most low key bar stocks more than one brand, in fact most have literally dozens to choose from. Dunno why this bothers me but it does. If you're worried about the perception of product placement do what Tarantino does and make up a brand.Final Rating – 7 / 10. "We twist. And turn. And twist and twist and turn. Twist, twist, twist. Turn, turn, turn. The Itchy and Scratchy Show." I mean Red Rock West. (That means it's a pretty good movie.)If you liked this review (or even if you didn't) check out oneguyrambling.com