Red Rock West
| Red Rock West | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | John Dahl |
| Produced by | Steve Golin Sigurjón Sighvatsson |
| Written by | John Dahl Rick Dahl |
| Starring | Nicolas Cage Dennis Hopper Lara Flynn Boyle J. T. Walsh |
| Music by | William Olvis |
| Cinematography | Marc Reshovsky |
| Editing by | Scott Chestnut |
| Distributed by | Roxie Releasing |
| Release date(s) | France: June 16, 1993 United States: April 8, 1994 |
| Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7,000,000 |
| Box office | $2,502,551 |
Red Rock West (1992) is a neo-noir film directed by John Dahl. The film, written by Dahl and his brother Rick, was shot in Montana and Willcox, Arizona. The film was well received at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival, but deemed a cable and direct-to-video product by Columbia Tri-Star, which owned the North American rights. When Bill Banning, the owner of a San Francisco movie theater and a huge fan of the film, arranged for a theatrical release, the film gained a "buzz" and toured U.S.[citation needed] as an art-house hit.
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[edit] Plot
Nicolas Cage plays Michael Williams, a drifter living out of his car after being discharged from the Marine Corps. After a job on an oilfield falls through due to his unwillingness to conceal a war injury on his job application, he wanders into rural Red Rock, Wyoming, looking for other work. A local bar owner named Wayne (J. T. Walsh) mistakes him for a hit man, "Lyle from Dallas," whom Wayne has hired to kill his wife. Wayne offers him a stack of cash--"half now, half later"--but Michael doesn't correct him and takes the money. Michael then visits Wayne's wife, Suzanne (Lara Flynn Boyle) and attempts to warn her that her life is in danger—instead of killing her. She then makes a tempting counteroffer to him. Michael, knowing that the longer he stays in town the more dangerous it is, tries to leave town, with no success. The twists and turns in his attempts to leave Red Rock find him dodging bullets when "Lyle from Dallas" (Dennis Hopper) finally does show up. Michael knocks Lyle out, but complicates matters when he becomes romantically involved with Suzanne, and the next morning when Lyle comes to get money from Wayne he knocks Michael out. Lyle kidnaps Suzanne and Michael, gets Wayne out of jail, and ends up at the wrong end of a fight in a graveyard, over money.
[edit] Cast
- Nicolas Cage as Michael Williams
- Dennis Hopper as Lyle from Dallas
- Lara Flynn Boyle as Suzanne Brown/Ann McCord
- J. T. Walsh as Wayne Brown/Kevin McCord
- Dwight Yoakam as Truck Driver
- Timothy Carhart as Deputy Matt Greytack
- Robert Apel as Howard
[edit] Production
Red Rock West was made in 1992 in Arizona on a budget of $7 million.[1] The domestic rights were sold to Columbia Tri-Star home video for $2.5 million and the foreign rights to Manifesto Films, a subsidiary of Polygram Filmed Entertainment.[1] Test screenings for the film were not strong and Peter Graves, an independent consultant who headed the marketing department at Polygram said, "The film doesn't fall neatly into any marketable category. A western film noir isn't something people can immediately spark to."[1] One of the film's producers suggested early on that the film be submitted to the Sundance Film Festival and was told by the studio that it wasn't a festival film.[1] Columbia sold Red Rock West to cable and it was shown seven times on HBO in the fall of 1993.[1]
The film opened successfully in theaters in Germany, Paris, and London in the summer of 1993. Piers Handling, director of the Toronto Film Festival saw the film in Paris and decided to show it at the festival in September.[1] Bill Banning, who owned the Roxie Cinema and Roxie Releasing in San Francisco saw Red Rock West in Toronto and thought that there might be an American theatrical audience for the film. It took him until January 1994 to find out who owned the rights.[1] The film had already played on HBO at this point and was due to come out on video in February.[1] Banning started showing Red Rock West at the Roxie Cinema on January 28, 1994 where it broke box office records before expanding to eight theaters in the city.[1] It then opened in Los Angeles and New York City.
[edit] Music
The soundtrack for the film features a number of country music performers, including Johnny Cash, Shania Twain, Toby Keith, The Kentucky Headhunters, and Sammy Kershaw. Dwight Yoakam wrote the film's closing credits song "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere" when the film was being made and while the musician made his film acting debut in the film. The song went on to become a Top 10 country hit.[2]
[edit] Reception
In his review for the Washington Post, Richard Harrington praised it as "a treasure waiting to be discovered."[3] In her review for the New York Times, Caryn James called it "a terrifically enjoyable, smartly acted, over-the-top thriller."[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hornaday, Anne (April 3, 1994). "Film Noir, 'Tweener' or Flub?". New York Times.
- ^ Bearden, Keith (August 1, 1994). "John Dahl". MovieMaker. http://www.moviemaker.com/_directing/article/j_dahl_3099/. Retrieved 2009-03-05.[dead link]
- ^ Harrington, Richard (April 15, 1994). "Red Rock West: Strange Turns on the Road". Washington Post.
- ^ James, Caryn (April 8, 1994). "The New Boy in a Town Ruled by Coincidence". New York Times.
[edit] External links
- Red Rock West at the Internet Movie Database
- Red Rock West at AllRovi
- Bright Lights Film Journal article
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