Red Rock West (1993)
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Reviews Counted: 37
Fresh: 35 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 7,411
My Rating
Movie Info
John Dahl directed and co-wrote (along with his brother Rick Dahl) this quirky and energetic film noir that, after a well-received screening at the Toronto Film Festival, was consigned to oblivion before resurfacing on cable television. When the owner of a San Francisco movie theater, who was a big fan of the film, arranged for a theatrical release, the film clicked and toured the country as an art house hit. The film concerns eternal loser Michael (Nicolas Cage), down to his last five dollars
Aug 10, 1999
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Nicolas Cage
Michael -
Dennis Hopper
Lyle -
Lara Flynn Boyle
Suzanne -
J.T. Walsh
Wayne -
Timothy Carhart
Deputy Greytack -
Dan Shor
Deputy Bowman -
Dwight Yoakam
Truck Driver -
Robert Beecher
Caretaker -
Jeff Levine
Country Girl Bartender -
Michael Rudd
Red Rock Bartender
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All Critics (37) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (2) | DVD (8)
It's well worth tracking down, wherever you can find it. For it has the kind of tension and energy -- maybe even a touch of delirium -- that is only a memory in most of today's big studio movies.
Top CriticA wry thriller with a keen edge.
A rather ho-hum if watchable neo-noir, though it's been treated in some quarters as something special.
[A] well-played, highly entertaining and playfully ingenious thriller.
It should never have fallen through the cracks. This clever little film is a real find.
It is a treasure waiting to be discovered.
The cast is terrific, with Walsh at his most deliciously amoral.
One of the most successful entries in the crowded ranks of early '90s neo-noir thrillers.
Great fun.
It's a brilliant noir movie that seems to understand the inner workings of film noir, rather than just paying tribute to it.
A forceful, witty film noir played almost straight.
John Dahl's second feature is a quirky, low-budget "Western noir," baosting a fresh narrative angle and a quintessentially indie cast, including Nicolas Cage (before he became a star), J.T. Walsh, and the ubiquitous enfant terrible Dennis Hopper
With J.T. Walsh, Dennis Hopper, and Lara Flynn Boyle in your desert thriller, it's hard to go wrong, and in his riveting sophomore feature, John Dahl rarely gets tripped up.
A great, twisty noir that plants a Jim Thompson plot in the American Southwest.
A great example of western film noir from director John Dahl, a modern day master of these types of films.
Audience Reviews for Red Rock West
Super Reviewer
A neo-noir set in Wyoming that follows all the standards. Nic Cage is the unlucky hero, in over his head. Lara Flynn Boyle is the femme fatale. J.T. Walsh and Dennis Hopper are the ones up to no good. The film is made well enough and manages to be entertaining for the most part.
Cage stars as Michael, a man trying to find a job, but do to a dodgy knee that was injured during his time spent in the military, its quite hard for him. Michael stumbles into a bar only to be mistaken for a hitman by the bartender, played by J.T. Walsh, who hires him to kill his wife, played by Boyle. Michael accepts, only to plan on ditching with the half up front paid money. Things go awry as Michael can't seem to get out of town, only to have even more problems once the real hitman, played by Dennis Hopper, shows up.
This film is just fine. It plays with the genre by having it set in the midwest, but really doesn't offer much in the way of surprise. So that leaves the filmmaking and the actors involved. Cage does just fine, Hopper is always interesting to watch, and I do miss the standard type of character that Walsh used to play before he died.
Director John Dahl also manages to do a good enough job at throwing in some tension and action our way, which certainly keeps the film's pace moving.
A fine thriller.
Michael Williams: Adios, Red Rock.
Super Reviewer
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Latest News on Red Rock West
June 13, 2007:
Director Dahl Out of "Punisher 2"Looks like "Punisher 2" is in even more turmoil after losing Thomas Jane. Now rumored...
May 18, 2007:
Jane Out, Dahl In on "Punisher 2"?We're already well aware that actor Thomas Jane has walked away from the "Punisher"...
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