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Red

  • 2008
  • R
  • 1h 33m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
13K
YOUR RATING
Brian Cox, Kim Dickens, Noel Fisher, Ashley Laurence, Kyle Gallner, Tiffany Zappulla, and Shiloh Fernandez in Red (2008)
Conspiracy ThrillerLegal ThrillerDramaThriller

A reclusive man sets out for justice and redemption when three troublesome teens kill his dog for no good reason.A reclusive man sets out for justice and redemption when three troublesome teens kill his dog for no good reason.A reclusive man sets out for justice and redemption when three troublesome teens kill his dog for no good reason.

  • Directors
    • Trygve Allister Diesen
    • Lucky McKee
  • Writers
    • Stephen Susco
    • Jack Ketchum
  • Stars
    • Brian Cox
    • Noel Fisher
    • Kyle Gallner
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.9/10
    13K
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Trygve Allister Diesen
      • Lucky McKee
    • Writers
      • Stephen Susco
      • Jack Ketchum
    • Stars
      • Brian Cox
      • Noel Fisher
      • Kyle Gallner
    • 81User reviews
    • 66Critic reviews
    • 61Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 2 nominations total

    Videos1

    Red (2008)
    Trailer 2:41
    Red (2008)

    Photos13

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    Top cast25

    Edit
    Brian Cox
    Brian Cox
    • Avery Ludlow
    Noel Fisher
    Noel Fisher
    • Danny
    Kyle Gallner
    Kyle Gallner
    • Harold
    Shiloh Fernandez
    Shiloh Fernandez
    • Pete
    Kim Dickens
    Kim Dickens
    • Carrie
    Marcia Bennett
    Marcia Bennett
    • Emma
    Richard Riehle
    Richard Riehle
    • Sam
    Tom Sizemore
    Tom Sizemore
    • Mr. McCormack
    Ashley Laurence
    Ashley Laurence
    • Mrs. McCormack
    Robert Englund
    Robert Englund
    • Mr. Doust
    Amanda Plummer
    Amanda Plummer
    • Mrs. Doust
    Keith Buterbaugh
    Keith Buterbaugh
    • Dean
    Jack Ketchum
    • Bartender
    • (as Dallas Mayr)
    Delaney Williams
    Delaney Williams
    • Gun Shop Manager
    Tate Ellington
    Tate Ellington
    • Gun Shop Clerk
    Greg Stuhr
    Greg Stuhr
    • Fire Marshall
    John-Luke Montias
    John-Luke Montias
    • Cop
    Katie Piel
    Katie Piel
    • Gloria
    • Directors
      • Trygve Allister Diesen
      • Lucky McKee
    • Writers
      • Stephen Susco
      • Jack Ketchum
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews81

    6.913.4K
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    Featured reviews

    9HumanoidOfFlesh

    The best adaptation of Jack Ketchum's novel so far.

    Jack Ketchum's brilliant novel tells the story of an elderly man Avery Ludlow,who has a dog named Red he loves more than life.A simple lonely man he has few good things in his life after losing family members tragically years before.On the day he takes his dog fishing with him,three young boys come along,rob him and shoot his dog for no reason. After this cold-blooded murder he tries to seek justice,but two of the boys are coming from a rich and powerful family.Each thing he tries is thwarted until he takes matters into his own hand.The climatic outburst of violence is inevitable..."Red" is a slow-moving and meditative drama punctuated with sudden explosions of violence.The acting by Brian Cox is phenomenal,the supporting cast is also splendid.Overall,"Red" is a sad and beautiful story about a man and his dead dog.Thank You very much Lucky McKee and Trygwe Aliester Disen for such powerful piece of work.I have seen "The Girl Next Door" and "The Lost",but "Red" is the best adaptation of Ketchum to date.I'm glad that I saw it in the cinema during 2008 Warsaw Film Festival.
    7joek-30

    Touching, emotional and an unexpectedly good film

    I initially thought this film might be OK, but would probably turn out a let-down, as so many do. I was totally wrong. The film was unexpectedly very good. If you are an animal lover and a family man, you should be able to relate to this film and thus should definitely enjoy it.

    I found the story very interesting and the acting was excellent. I watched the film whilst having a bottle of wine and this may have made it even better, but I actually found it very touching and even a little emotional. I am not normally the kind of person, who gets emotional watching a film, but this one struck a cord with me and in a way it saddened me, but at the same time, as I could relate to the main actor, he gave me great strength.

    Brian Cox played the part tremendously and managed to portray the past tragedies in his life extremely well and with utter conviction. I scored the film 7, but it would be a high 7 and close to an 8. I prefer action type films and slower paced ones like this normally bore me. This one however was far from boring and in actual fact was thoroughly entertaining.
    7wmjaho

    Fresh take on an old theme

    Ten reasons why I like this movie:

    1. IMDb lists 14 movies named "Red" in the past 30 years and this is the only one I've seen.

    2. Productionwas bifurcated—shot by two different directors. But you could never tell, a credit more to the final director, Trygve Allister Diesen, than initial director Lucky McKee.

    3. The Carmen Sandiego Factor: The movie is set in rural Oregon, and filmed in Maryland by a Norwegian director. Who would have guessed this could possibly turn out well?

    4. Young TV actor Noel Fisher sneers with conviction as he plays Danny--the spoiled, insecure and mean-spirited rich bully--realistically enough to make you hate him.

    5. Tom Sizemore plays Danny's dad, an even bigger jerk, and has a natural sneer, which might be drug-induced since the movie was shot before his 2007 prison sentence for another drug conviction.

    6. Brian Cox (Bourne Supremacy) is really terrific as Avery Ludlow, the aged protagonist. He's old, fat, bald and has a flawed past. And he's the main man. He's like Mr. Miyagi for the 21st century, except he doesn't know karate.

    7. Thankfully, Ludlow does not engage in gratuitous sex with anyone in the movie. While this certainly put the Sundance submission at risk, it was an act of good taste and gracious compassion to the audience.

    8. Dogs and puppies make every movie better.

    9. The story has all the earmarks of a Greek tragedy, but with a modern American twist. It definitely had a classical feel, including hubris as a fatal flaw, yet still managed to keep viewers fully engaged from beginning to end.

    10. Snooty film critics might complain that the wrap-up was trite and contrived, but nevertheless, the ending satisfied the audience, which sure beats the alternative.
    7Juggertrout

    Worth watching

    The combination of Brian Cox and Tom Sizemore in a film based upon a Jack Ketchum novel (bizarrely spelled Jack Ketchmum in the trailer) and the direction of cult-courting Lucky McKee certainly peaked my interest and therefore I awarded this film some of my time. The premise was something that also appealed to me - a kind of "Falling Down" but with a more mediative, Western styling.

    The story is a simple but, on the surface, a powerful one. Brian Cox is Avery Ludlow, a veteran who hides his tortuous family history behind his love for his faithful dog, Red. One day while fishing, he is approached by three delinquents who try to rob him. Realising that he lacks anything of worth, the cocky leader of the pack, Danny, shoots dead his dog, laughs about it with his brother and friend, and then walks off. Ludlow is determined to get justice, but finds hurdles at every stage, from the boy's arrogant father, to a reluctant town sheriff.

    The acting in this film was excellent. Brian Cox is superb as the graceful recluse seeking justice. He plays his role in a remarkably understated manner that compliments his experience and wisdom. Whether he is brutally taking on the perpetrators or solemnly reminiscing about the tragic circumstances that led to his wife and son's death, Cox is brilliant at making us feel a warm empathy with him, and makes us want to join him on his quest for justice. Kudos must also be given to Tom Sizemore, who is wonderfully repugnant as Michael McCormack, the arrogant, millionaire father of Danny the delinquent. He really does shine and show what a great actor he can be when he is not in trouble for one reason or another. It would be fair to say that he is much better at eliciting disgust than Cox is at eliciting empathy (although this is a much easier task) and his evolution from his first meeting with Cox, to the final showdown is a joy to watch and anticipate.

    The other actors play their parts competently. I was a bit apprehensive about Noel Fisher as Danny at first, as he was guilty of slight overacting in his first scene. However, upon finishing the film, the acting style perfectly complimented his role as a narcissistic youth with no empathy, and overall he was very good in the film. Kyle Gallner, who plays his shy brother, and Shiloh Fernandez as his equally minded friend are also good, with Gallner excelling in the film's climax. The other major part is that of reporter Carrie Donnel, played by Kim Dickens. She is not bad in her role but it is entirely unnecessary, which brings me on to the film's flaw - it's script.

    The film really does shine when there are scenes of direct confrontation. Anything between Cox and Fisher after their first meeting, or anything with Sizemore. The film really does suffer when the action is diverted to scenes of a more meditative nature. Donnel's role is far too over played, and her emergence as some sort of bizarre is she/isn't she love interest at the end severely harms the movie. The only things that ties the two together is Cox's consistently brilliant acting. His monologue on how his family fell apart is beautiful and haunting, with the camera lingering on his wise yet hurt face. Likewise, he is respectably sinister in his pursuit of justice, and the film really picks up pace in the final third, building to an excellent climax involving Cox, Sizemore, and his family. Indeed, after a slow, slightly turgid middle, this comes as a great relief. What a shame then that it is spoilt by a horribly put together ending that literally screams "TV MOVIE!" It is far too contrite, and does not favours to Cox or the film. I understand that McKee was replaced by a more happy-friendly director during filming, and his influence is clearly felt here (one wonders how McKee would have done the ending). Other than that though, the film maintains a consistent indie-Western style, and any notions of two directors are not realised.

    It is this paltry ending that forces me to award this 7 out of 10. The film has many memorable moments, but is ruined by its final scene. I suggest watching this, if just for the confrontation scenes, and the film does certainly keep you guessing as to how it will end, but if it had just been more adventurous at various points then this could have been a very good film.
    8Craig_McPherson

    A nuanced story and mesmerizing performance make this a must see

    Brian Cox is ranked among the best character actors in the business. Yet, for all his talent, he's seldom chosen as a leading man, instead being called upon to fill supporting roles as far ranging as the original Hannibal Lecter (Manhunter) to William Wallace's dad in Bravehart and William Stryker in X2, the X-Men sequel, among only a few of his 134 roles thus far. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to see him handed the lead in Red, a mini-masterpiece of one man's quest for justice which screened at the 2008 edition of Montreal's Fantasia film festival.

    Directed by Trygve Allister Diesen and Lucky McKee (May, The Woods), and based on a story by Jack Ketchum, Red tells the story of aging war vet Avery Ludlow (Cox), whose only remaining companion after a life of tragedy, a dog named Red, is brutally killed by a group of teens. Built upon a remarkably rich, layered and textured script by Stephen Susco (The Grudge), the story doesn't play out as your simple paint-by-numbers revenge thriller. Instead, it unfolds slowly and all too realistically as Ludlow seeks redress, not revenge, from the wealthy father of two of the boys (Tom Sizemore in full sleaze mode), only to be rebuffed by parents and legal channels alike. Even when these attempts fail, Ludlow, ever the civil citizen, tells his story to the local TV news, and launches a lawsuit against the killers.

    Drawing parallels between teen dog killer Danny McCormack (Noel Fisher) and Ludlow's chilling account of how his own son single handedly destroyed his family, we're presented with a man whose motivation for justice is driven in large part by a belated attempt to right the wrongs of his past. So much so, in fact, that in the absence of his companion dog, the quest for justice virtually becomes Ludlow's reason for living, to the point where it practically consumes him.

    Cox's performance here is nothing short of breathtaking. He carries this movie on his back and is in every scene, mesmerizing you with his nuanced portrayal of a lonely man to whom tragedy has bequeathed a host of inner demons to torment him in his twilight years.

    Don't mistake Red for lesser fare such as Death Wish or The Brave One. While it is constructed around a fairly simple premise that on the surface appears primed to appeal to the base human desire for revenge, the story here is so much more than that, and to give it short shrift and dismiss it as mere manipulative movie making would be to miss out on a story and performance that is a true must see.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Lucky McKee was the original director and had been shooting for several weeks when he was fired and replaced by Trygve Allister Diesen for unknown reasons. Angela Bettis (a frequent McKee collaborator) was also attached to the project, playing the role of Carrie, but was fired and replaced by Kim Dickens for, again, unknown reasons.
    • Quotes

      Danny: You're fucking crazy.

      Avery Ludlow: In that case, you better do as I tell you, hadn't you?

    • Connections
      Referenced in Teen Wolf: The Tell (2011)
    • Soundtracks
      Should I
      (End Credit Song)

      Written and Performed by Rick Garcia and Rene Reyes

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    FAQ20

    • How long is Red?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 20, 2008 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Redemption - Uppgörelsen
    • Filming locations
      • Fillmore, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Billy Goat Pictures
      • Tenk
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $2,500,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $4,643
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $3,176
      • Aug 10, 2008
    • Gross worldwide
      • $15,617
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 33m(93 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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