I'm sure this movie meant to have a message. I'm sure it meant to speak deeply on acts of religious terrorism. I'm sure it meant to say alot of things.
Unfortunately, it said too many things. By the end of the movie I didn't feel there was any main character, nor any character that I cared at all about. When the film started, I thought it was going to be about the horror of the sinner boys who've been mislead into a spiderweb of religious extremism. But the movie quickly forgets about the boys, sets them aside, and moves onto it's next contrived plotline.
I expected to be overwhelmed with hatred for the fervent sermon of the homophobic pastor and his congregation, but I was really just lulled into boredom. Maybe that was supposed to be part of the horror? That he didn't get overly crazed, and seemed relatively calm even while planning to murder the poor young boys? The juxtaposition of the extreme terror the boys were feeling and the relaxed, easy going religious leader was probably one of the moments when the movie was trying to make one of it's statements. But for me that message just got lost, as well as much of my interest in the film.
The movie partly follows the sinner boys, partly follows the preacher and his believers, partly follows the one and only believer who wants to save the children, and partly follows the main ATF agent played by John Goodman. The movie had many good/great actors including Melissa Leo who recently won and Academy Award for her performance in The Fighter. But none of them managed to be memorable or engaging.
This was a movie that could have been something. A movie that could have gone somewhere. A movie that could have made a statement. Instead it was a confused film that tried to say too many things, and ended up saying nothing at all.
Overall 3/10.
Watch the trailer for Red State. What did you think of the film? Did it convey a message to you? Was it what you expected?
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