Red Rock West **** (1992, Nicolas Cage, Lara Flynn Boyle, Dennis Hopper, J T Walsh) – Classic Movie Review 336

Director John Dahl’s 1992 brilliantly quirky and twisty retro-film noir movie is a killer thriller to watch again and again. Lovingly crafted, it’s as menacing and scary as it is steamy.

A pre-superstardom Nicolas Cage stars as Mike, a down-on-his-luck Texan who calls in at the little nowhere town of Red Rock, Wyoming, to see if he can land some bar work after a promised job fails to materialise. But he is mistaken for a hired killer by sinister bar owner Wayne (J T Walsh), who gives him cash to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne (Lara Flynn Boyle). When Cage decides to warn her, she promptly gives him money to kill Walsh, who is in fact the own sheriff.

Mike takes the money and runs. During his getaway, things start to go wrong, and Walsh then tries to kill Cage, who escapes in a passing car driven by none other than the real hired killer from Texas, the seriously disturbed Lyle (Dennis Hopper). Now things go from bad to worse.

There’s more, much more of this deviously and deliriously plotted cat-and-mouse yarn, whose bizarre twists are jaw-dropping. And all along the way there’s endless pleasure to be had here for any thriller fans.

All the cast are absolutely ideal, and respond with impeccable turns. On fine form, Cage proves a very useful hero, severely tried and tormented but always remaining resourceful and upright. He’s the centre of the vortex, not exactly calm, but easy to identify with as our point of contact with the crazies he meets.

The sizzling Boyle makes an especially slinky femme fatale, making the stereotype seem fresh and alluring all over again, while Walsh and Hopper turn in their rousingly crafted portrayals of, respectively, chilly and crazed evil. Hopper effortlessly steals all his scenes, accessing his Frank Booth character from Blue Velvet.

There are loads of exciting suspense set pieces in John Dahl and his producer brother Rick’s terrific screenplay that punctuates the thrills with an effective layer of tongue-in-cheek humour. Marc Reshovsky’s cinematography and William Olvis’s score also help to pile on the heady film noir atmosphere.

A lot of the Wyoming-set film was shot on location in Montana, the Dahls’ home state, as well as Arizona.

A critical favourite at the time, it’s now a respected cult movie but it wasn’t a hit. Even on a low cost of $8million, it only took back $2.5million in the States. What do you have to do to entertain people?

Cage was recommended to the Dahls by his uncle, Francis Coppola, who admired their first film Kill Me Again. John Dahl went on to direct Rounders, The Last Seduction and Road Kill (aka Joy Ride).

Dwight Yoakam plays the Truck Driver. His hit single, A Thousand Miles From Nowhere, is used during the closing credits.

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© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 336

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