Red

Struggling to adjust to civilian life, retired CIA hitman Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) tries to woo Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), a customer service rep several hundred miles away. Unfortunately, before he can make his move, someone at Langley decides he’s a liability and tries to eliminate him and his former (and equally over-the-hill) teammates. Naturally, they decide to fight back.


Directed by Robert Schwentke and adapted from a limited-series DC comic book of the same name, Red offers perhaps the best balance of action and comedy since Hot Fuzz. The sensibility is flat-out ridiculous (case-in-point: the CIA’s secret files are guarded by a somehow-not-dead Ernest Borgnine), but there enough explosions and well-rounded characters to keep things interesting.


Led by a seemingly ageless (ironic, given the premise) Willis, the cast is mostly game. Bald Bruce can still run, shoot, and fight with the poise of a late-80s John McLane. He’s flanked by a hapless, sympathetic Parker, an affably deadly Russian (Brian Cox, pulling off yet another accent), and a demure Englishwoman (Helen Mirren), who happens to be a lethal sniper. John Malkovich nearly steals the show, however, as a paranoid, gun-crazy, bunker-dwelling loon – a comic counterpart to his character from In the Line of Fire. Morgan Freeman is in the mix too as Frank’s mentor, but his screen time is all-too-brief.


Unfortunately, the bad guys and secondary characters aren’t nearly as well-cast or earnestly portrayed. Karl Urban is a bit too likeable as Willis’ would-be replacement at the Agency, Julian McMahon looks like neither a vice president nor a former soldier (he’s supposed to be both), and a tough-to-recognize Richard Dreyfuss hams it up as a smarmy, politically connected arms dealer. These shortcomings rob the film of its needed tension and steer it toward a very predictable conclusion.


Neither innovative nor plausible, Red nevertheless hits home as an enjoyable action-comedy that offers unexpected insight on the perils of both ageism and growing old.


7.5