Red State (2011 film)

Red State
Teaser poster
Directed by	Kevin Smith
Written by	Kevin Smith
Produced by	Jon Gordon
Starring	Michael Parks John Goodman Melissa Leo Stephen Root
Cinematography	Dave Klein
Edited by	Kevin Smith
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$4 million

Red State is a 2011 religious horror movie shot on video written and directed by Kevin Smith parodying the Westboro Baptist Church and Pastor Fred Phelps, starring Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo and Stephen Root. Smith stated that film producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein have passed on Red State; the Weinsteins thus far having been involved in distribution of all Kevin Smith films, with the exception of Mallrats and Cop Out (for which Smith did not write the script, only directed). Though the film failed to find a distributor, Smith announced at his premiere of the film at the Sundance film festival that he planned to self-distribute the picture himself "under the Smodcast Pictures Banner" and despite wanting to initially show the film in theaters in March he decided instead to show the film to the public on a traveling show in select cities before officially releasing the movie on "October 19th, on the 17th anniversary of Clerks" in 2011.

Plot

Three horny high school boys come across an online personal ad from an older woman looking for a gang bang, and boys being boys, they hit the road to satisfy their libidinal urges. What begins as a fantasy, however, takes a dark turn as they come face-to-face with a terrifying fundamentalist "holy" force with a fatal agenda.

Cast

• Michael Parks as Pastor Abin Cooper
• John Goodman as Keenan
• Melissa Leo as Sarah, Pastor Cooper's daughter, Caleb's wife and Cheyenne's mother
• Ralph Garman as Caleb, Sarah's husband, Abin Cooper's son-in-law and Cheyenne's father
• Kerry Bishé as Cheyenne, Sarah and Caleb's daughter and Abin Cooper's granddaughter
• Michael Angarano as Travis
• Kyle Gallner as Jared
• Nicholas Braun as Billy Ray
• Stephen Root as Sheriff Wynan
• James Jean Parks as Mordechai
• Kevin Pollak
• Haley Ramm as Maggie
• Matt L. Jones
• Kevin Alejandro as Tactical Agent Harry
• Anna Gunn as Irma
• Betty Aberlin as Abigail
• Marc Blucas
• Elizabeth Tripp as Melanie, Abin Cooper's granddaughter, Caleb and Sarah's daughter
• Jennifer Schwalbach Smith as Esther

Production

Director Kevin Smith announced at the Wizard World Chicago 2006 convention that his next project would move in a very different direction, and it would be a straight horror film. In April 2007, Smith revealed the title of the movie to be Red State and said that it was inspired by infamous pastor Fred Phelps, or as Smith claimed, "very much about that subject matter, that point of view and that position taken to the absolute extreme. It is certainly not Phelps himself but it's very much inspired by a Phelps (like) figure." The first draft was finished in August 2007. Setting it apart from the majority of his other films, Smith has made it clear that Red State is a horror film, stating that there will be no fart or genitalia jokes in the movie.

While speaking at a live event overseas in London on October 13, 2009, Smith stated that funding had been secured for Red State but he is more of the mindset to proceed with Hit Somebody and hold Red State off for a year. Another reason that was also cited was a superstition he holds around dying after his tenth movie, and not wanting to leave an "unpleasant, nasty" film as his last. In February 2010, he talked about his project with CINSSU, saying that the project is currently working out financial challenges, and he may even get funded through investments from his many loyal fans.

On July 24, 2010, it was also reported that Michael Parks had signed on to the film in a starring role, and on September 5, 2010, Smith confirmed that Matt L. Jones was also cast. On the September 20, edition of his and Ralph Garman's podcast Hollywood Babble-on, Kevin Smith announced that John Goodman had joined the cast. Smith edited the film throughout production and showed a first cut at the film's wrap party.

In July 2010, Smith stated on his Twitter that "God-willing, Sundance in Jan for RED STATE." On November 8, Smith announced on Twitter that the movie was currently being viewed by Sundance, to determine if it was eligible for entry in the 2011 festival. On December 1, Red State was rejected from the official Sundance film list for competition. However, Smith announced on the same day that his film would be in the Sundance festival in the non-competition section.

Marketing

Throughout the months of November and December, Smith released character teaser posters in auctions via his Twitter account with the winning bidder hosting the poster exclusively on their website, while the money raised by the auction went to charity. Smith released a teaser trailer for the film on December 23, 2010.

Following the official first screening of Red State, writer/director Kevin Smith revealed to the Sundance audience that he would no longer use the festival to look for a distributor for the film as originally stated, but planned to self-distribute as a traveling roadshow beginning March 5th at Radio City Music Hall and would tour the film across North America before before releasing Red State into cinemas through his Smodcast Pictures label on October 19th (the 17th anniversary of the release of Clerks). According to analysts, “Red State” might have been a difficult sale for any distributor.

Controversy

Though Smith has decided to self-distribute the film after failing to find a distributor, according to the film's producer Jonathan Gordon the option of self-distributing the movie wasn't considered an option at first,

Hiring longtime specialty exec Dinerstein (whose film marketing consultancy also arranges self-distribution deals), bringing aboard Cinetic Media (which arranged service deals for sale titles like last year's Banksy doc "Exit Through the Gift Shop") with co-seller WME, and slapping the word "March" at the end of the teaser trailer has led many to suspect Smith has a self-distribution backup plan should an attractive offer fail to materialize. But is self-distribution or a service deal even an option they're considering? "No," says Gordon. "We want to have someone who loves the movie, understands it, knows how to handle it and get the most out of it."

The about-face decision to suddenly self-distribute the movie after failing to find a distributor provoked a backlash from the media and accusations of dishonesty, with some analysts commenting that they watched Kevin Smith "implode" and that he had "lost cred" and one prominent buyer saying, “He stole two hours and insulted every one of us...He was a little like the twisted preacher Michael Parks played in his film. It became life imitating art.”

Reception

Initial reactions were mixed following the film's debut at a non-competition screening at the Sundance film festival. Edward Douglas of "ShockTillYouDrop" panned the movie saying that, "it feels like one of Smith's Twitter rants fleshed out into film with equal portions of bile sprayed at both church and state."Katey Rich of "Cinemablend" reporting in her review, “Messy, overwritten, visually stylish, but kind of a bore. More like Kevin Smith than it looks because nobody ever stops talking. And it’s not a horror movie by any usual definition. More like teen horror movie morphs into Waco disaster. Melissa Leo overacts, Michael Parks is impressive as Fred Phelps figure but the character’s meaning and purpose in the narrative (or lack thereof) is fuzzy...Red State Is A Messy, Ambitious Disappointment” Jordan Hoffman in his review for "UGO" also panned the film, saying, "Kevin Smith, a wonderful public speaker and genuinely fun guy, has yet to master the basics of movie making...Kevin Smith's Fundamentalist Red State Has Fundamental Problems." According to Drew Mcweeny of "Motion Captured", "Kevin Smith's 'Red State' fails onscreen and off at its world premiere...A shoddy film and a bait-and-switch event fail to satisfy on any level." Raffi Asdourian of "The Film Stage" wrote that, "While there are glimpses of Smith’s wry humor scattered throughout, Red State can’t help but feel like a B action movie that started off with ambitious ideas but collapses under it’s own preachy weight...it’s clear that the smart alec writer still has some things to learn about making a great film." Matt Goldberg of "Collider.com" wrote that, "Red State, is a radical departure for Smith and yet he lacks the confidence to properly execute the action-horror-thriller he’s devised." James Rocchi writing for "The Playlist" wrote that "Red State Is An Ambitious, Greatly Flawed Stab At Horror" and commented that, "...Smith has gotten as far as he has with his comedies because it is a writer’s genre more so than it is a director’s. Horror is the genre of a director—pacing, feel, shots, editing—and Smith’s skills are not up to the task..."

Author Neil Gaiman posted a comment on his Twitter feed saying: "Best thing he's ever done. Left me shaken & grateful & wanting to make art." Director Richard Kelly also offered his take on the film and Smith while appearing on Smith's SMovieMakers podcast. He said "I have never seen a filmmaker reinvent himself the way you just have. I won't say anything else because I don't want to spoil anything. It's really really exciting…"

External links

• Red State at IMDb
• Official Red State podcast at SModcast.com
• Coopersdell.com, official "Red State U.S.A. Tour" site