Rent Red Rock West (1993)

Good fun - Red Rock West review by HM

A twisting plot intrigues and Cage's charisma helps lift it a notch higher than it may have deserved. It certainly kept me wondering what was coming next as we learn more about each character. A decent action/mystery thriller and entertaining if you don't take it too seriously. Good fun all round.

Uneven thriller - Red Rock West review by LC

The cast alone make this an interesting watch for David Lynch fans, and the moody guitar soundtrack only adds to the 'Wild at Heart' feel. Lara Flynn Boyle is predictably wooden, but Cage and Hopper are both entertaining, and the thriller plot starts off with a decent enough hook. Unfortunately the film slightly loses its way in the final third, as the requisite plot twists push it into increasingly ridiculous and corny situations. Ultimately a mediocre thriller, but there's enough going on here to make it reasonably entertaining viewing.

Western Noir (spoiler). - Red Rock West review by Steve

Stylish genre pile up which includes elements of the '90s road picture, with the transient, nocturnal locations (motels, bars) and guitar atmospherics. Also the contemporary western, as it is set in the wreckage of what mankind did to Wyoming. But most prominently this is a neo-noir which is sure to appeal to fans of classic noir because it is a conscientious homage to its motifs.

Nicholas Cage is the hard-up male dupe back from war who gives way to temptation when a small town Sheriff (JT Walsh) offers him $5000 to murder his unfaithful wife. Lara Flynn Boyle plays the femme fatale who doubles the amount to eliminate the husband instead. And Dennis Hopper is the psycho-killer who was hired to carry out the hit in the first place. But got lost on the highway...

Cage isn't much of an actor but he makes an okay clueless fall guy. Obviously there's plenty of David Lynch there. But the conventions go back further. We know the beautiful wife is lying to entrap the corruptible drifter, because that's what happens in '40s noir. And it's the sort of parable about fate that those films often were, because of the Production Code.

The lovers fleeing their destiny will never make it to Mexico. They are trapped. They can't even leave town. This didn't make money on release but became a sleeper hit with a cult following. Of course, the plot is predictable to aficionados, and implausible to everyone. But there's a new twist along every few minutes and besides, this is all about the gloomy noir fatalism.