Movie Recommendation- Red Rock West
RED ROCK WEST (1993)
If you’re making a movie that’s a mystery, plotting is necessarily going to have to be one of your chief concerns. And in that department, Red Rock West, John Dahl’s dispiritingly little seen rural noir black comedy, does not come up short. But where the film really shines is with its array of spot-on performances. Nearly every actor on screen here is throwing off sparks in the best way. Nicolas Cage, as the drifter who could walk away with a ton of cash if he could just get out of this town, is uncharacteristically subdued. Meanwhile, Dennis Hopper’s inspired scenery chewing is no less delightful for how characteristic it is. And if you could only submit one piece of evidence to insure J.T. Walsh’s induction in the character actor hall of fame, this would do nicely. Add in Lara Flynn Boyle as the perfect, smoldering femme fatale and a brief comic turn by Dwight Yoakam and Red Rock West becomes one town you’ll never want to leave.