This moves at a clip unbelievable. Not unrelated, I'd have to believe, is Kevin Smith's role as editor -- like Steven Soderbergh (whose done plenty of his own films, under a pseudonym), the Coens (under the name "Roderick Jaynes"), John Sayles, and a surprising number more-than-you'd-think of directors, this seems to put more of the film "in hand."And how!In this case, Smith eschews humor almost (but not quite) entirely; even the jokes in the film are for the characters to respond to ("Zing!") without leaving room for the audience to respond as such. The pace is breathless without losing the viewer, contemporary without being preachy or pedantic, and draws off recent events (through the '90s) as though our sense of the world is viewed differently, altered and updated without parroting or mimicking said events ... you'll just have to see it for yourself!People who keep up with current events will be rewarded -- particularly since this means getting a sense of the *beating pulse* of the humans behind the actions, not just some ideological stance. John Goodman's given more to do than in most (non-Coens) films you've seen him in lately, and he relishes and runs with it.Is this movie funny, clever, scary, unsettling? You betcha!From Kevin Smith? Holy s***!(Where's the next one, referred to in the end credits? Sadly, this one went over too poorly to merit a pick-up ... so far!)

Three teenagers get more than they bargained for when they arrange to have a foursome with a woman they met online in highly unusual Kevin Smith film. This is one of those movies that is best entered into with as little prior knowledge as possible, but suffice it to say that there are several twists and turns as the teens ends up being held captive by a group of Christian fundamentalists who believe that homosexuality and copulation outside of marriage are mortal sins. While the film offers a sharp satire on religious intolerance with Michael Parks in excellent form as the preacher in charge of the fundamentalist church, 'Red State' is most notable as a deft genre-hopping exercise. The film starts off as a comedy and then takes a horror/thriller turn, before turning into an action movie and then a sobering drama about law and order and government control. Smith also wildly switches between protagonists with varying characters coming into focus as the film moves along; if a bit disorientating, it is a move that cleverly challenges our generic expectations. The weakest aspect of the film is its action movie section near the end. That said, the film ends on a strong enough note that it leaves an indelible impression overall with its accentuated look at what could perhaps happen were religious tensions ever to erupt in a community where violence is valued by both sides.

An interesting film and a nice change of pace from Kevin Smith. While there are definitely some genuine comic moments, they are few and far between. Instead there is a mix of genres that somehow seems to work. The film is at first a horror/thriller and totally drew me in. It is dark, frantic and tense. It soon moulds into a siege film, a bit of decent gun play with a little escape excitement thrown in. The film does get a little confused in its delivery but not in its message. In this world, there are ridiculous reasons which people use to condone evil actions (particularly within religion), and the extent to which they follow these beliefs into actions of violence and terrorism continues to astound me. Kevin Smith does well to endue hatred for the Cooper 'family' early on in the film and Michael Parks, as the head of this group of nutters, is charismatic and passionate, even if it is absolute nonsense that he is preaching. There are loads of recognisable faces in this, taken from pools of talent from both film and TV (Breaking Bad, True Blood). John Goodman is probably the most known of these and does a believable turn as the federal agent charged with taking the Coopers down. It's important to note that the government are not the good guys here either. They have their share of dark decisions and idiotic actions. I did enjoy this film....but this level of fanaticism in the name of God is guaranteed to make me angry and so I inevitably found this fairly uncomfortable watching.

This movie just drags and drags with terrible monologues from the priest who's supposed to be frightening but really is just annoyingIt has a couple moments, very few, but a couple moments none the less where it doesn't suck completely but overall it's just a poorly executed movie that doesn't know what genre it's trying to beAt times it feels like it's pushing a political agenda, at times it feels like a action movie, at times it feels like a (unfunny) absurd comedy and at times it's just so slow you're trying really really hard not to press the fast forward buttonThe movie is also extremely cynical, the most cynical movie Kevin Smith has ever done, it has no heart or charm whatsoever and there is not a single character in the movie that is likable and none of the characters feel particularly real eitherBottom line it's just a big piece of crap of a movie that when it's done you ask yourself why you wasted your time watching it in the first place