‘I think you’re a tad late with your apology, son...’
I will begin by saying that if you’ve seen one man-takes-revenge film, then you’ve pretty much seen them all. There is very little to separate Red from Gran Torino, or Nobody or Harry Brown, but that doesn’t take anything away from the fact that it is a well-directed, well-written, and well-acted adaptation of Jack Ketchum’s acclaimed novel…
Avery Ludlow (Brian Cox) is a reserved widow who spends his time drinking in the local bar, running his little store and fishing with his beloved dog, Red. What a life. Following a chance encounter with some deepshit teenagers (brothers Danny (Noel Fisher) and Harold McCormack (Kyle Gallner) and their friend Pete (Shiloh Fernandez)), the dog ends up dead and Avery vows revenge. This is where things get interesting. In other films of this ilk, the iconic elderly actor immediately beats a path of bloody vengeance towards their attacker; in this film, Avery’s response is totally reasonable; it is only when the boy’s unscrupulous father (Tom Sizemore) becomes involved that things ratchet up a notch.
What makes Red so effective is the assured direction from filmmaking duo Trygve Diesen and Lucky McKee and, more importantly, a strong performance from the cast, particularly Cox, but everyone elevates the fairly mundane material. In terms of narrative, Red isn’t really original, nor is it innovative. Around the halfway mark, it becomes pretty clear where this film is heading, but because Cox is convincing as an unlikely avenging angel, Sizemore so authentically vile as the personification of wealth and privilege and Fisher and Gallner so credible as a pair of particularly snivelling teenagers, Red ends up being better than it has any right to be.
Don’t get into this thing expecting anyone to reinvent the wheel and you’ll be presented with a perfectly serviceable and occasionally excellent revenge thriller. Does anyone play a grumpy old man better than Brian Cox? I don’t think so. And I know about grumpy old men.
