RED ROCK WEST

RED ROCK WEST

The movie for this week is Red Rock West, a film noir from 1993.  The cast, which showcases Nicholas Cage, J.T. Walsh, Dennis Hopper, and the beautiful Lara Flynn Boyle, does an excellent job depicting flawed characters in a convoluted plot.  I don’t know about you, but I love it when the first few minutes of a movie reveal essential details about the story.  This one opens on an old beater with Texas license plates that is parked on the side of a deserted 2 lane highway, the landscape around it barren of trees and other vegetation, and a range of mountains on the horizon.  Nicholas Cage (whose character is named Mike) crawls out of the driver’s side door, stretches awake, and after rubbing his leg as if it is killing him, pulls on a knee brace.  He shaves using a hand mirror and slips on a dress shirt that he selects from a stack of neatly folded clothes in the trunk.  Then he starts the car and drives past a road sign that designates the locale as Wyoming.


 The next scene occurs at an oil drilling site where Mike has come to apply for a job.  This showcases how desperate his situation is because this is work that should have been available in Texas.  Unfortunately, the employer notices Mike’s limp and refuses to hire him.  He dejectedly drives away, his gas gauge nearly on empty.  Fortunately, he finds an old dilapidated gas station, but there is no one around.  He looks at the solitary five-dollar bill in his wallet, then goes inside to ask for help.  The place seems deserted and there is an open cash register with money in the drawer that he studies longingly.  Instead of grabbing it and running, however, he announces his presence by calling out.  An old man emerges from a back room and, at Mike’s request, pumps five dollars of gas into the car.  Mike hands him the last of his money and leaves.  A few miles down the road, he passes a sign that reads ‘Welcome to Red Rock’.  Although the entire sequence only lasts minutes, it establishes the protagonist as man of integrity in even the direst circumstances.


In Red Rock, Mike stops at a bar, digs around in a tin for some change, and goes inside where he orders a cup of coffee.  The bartender (Wayne) is played by J.T Walsh who often depicts sleezy characters, suggesting that something awful is going to happen.  As he pours the coffee, Wayne spies the Texas license plate on Mike’s car, refers to him as Lyle, and invites him into the back room to discuss “the job.”    Handing over five thousand dollars, he explains that the money is for killing his wife, Suzanne.   Although Mike is broke, it is still disappointing to see him palm the cash.  He drives out to the property and spots Wayne’s wife kissing a young man.  When she gets home a while later, he is waiting inside.  Instead of harming Suzanne, however, he reveals that her husband has hired a hitman named Lyle to kill her.   Rather than being frightened, Suzanne raises the stakes by offering him another five thousand to kill Wayne.  He agrees and takes the money, which he stashes in his glove compartment, and heads to a store where he fills up on gas and buys a week’s worth of food.  Then he writes a letter detailing the whole sordid plan and mails it to the sheriff’s office.  As he heads out of town, he passes a sign that reads ‘You Are Leaving Red Rock’.  Unfortunately, before Mike can get far, Wayne calls the house.  When Suzanne answers, he realizes that she is still alive, and hangs up without saying a word.   At the same time, Suzanne, who knows that her mystery caller is her husband, realizes they have both been duped.   


Meanwhile, Mike runs into a heavy rainstorm.  Unable to see, he hits something in the road.  He gets out to find out what and discovers the body of the young man he saw with Suzanne.  Being the decent guy that he is, Mike puts the man in his car, turns the car around, and heads to the Red Rock medical center.  The doctor and nurses are suspicious of Mike’s story and tell him to wait while they check the accident victim’s injuries.  At first, Mike does as he’s told but then he begins to worry that he will be trouble and decides to get going before it’s too late.  He is just heading for the door when the cops show up.  They take him into custody and start going through his car where they find the ten thousand dollars.  Mike tries to tell them the crazy story about the bartender and his wife, but they refuse to listen, so he asks them to call the sheriff.  Just then the sheriff shows up and…lo and behold, it’s Wayne.  He tells the cops that he will take care of Mike.  Wayne puts Mike in his car, handcuffs him to the arm rest, and drives out of town where he pulls off the road into a field.  When Wayne attempts to shoot Mike, a scuffle ensues, and Mike gets away.  Just as he seems to be in the clear, however, his knee gives out and he rolls down a hill onto the highway in front of a car.  


The driver, played by Dennis Hopper, manages to stop just in time, and offers to give Mike a ride into Red Rock.  Seeing no other choice, Mike takes the man up on his offer.  While they’re riding, Mike reveals that he was a Marine and his knee got injured in Desert Storm.  The driver, who is an older man, reveals that he was also a Marine and served in Vietnam.  When they get to town, the driver parks at Wayne’s bar and insists that Mike come inside and have a drink to their both being Marines.  Seeing that he can’t get out of it, Mike reluctantly follows him inside.  He places an order but then sees Wayne walk in, so he excuses himself, heads to the bathroom, and escapes through the window.  Meanwhile, Wayne begins talking to the driver who introduces himself as Lyle from Texas.  Wayne tells Lyle that a man has been impersonating him, and realizing that this man is Mike, the two men head for the bathroom to confront him.  When they find the bathroom empty, they begin to search outside.  Mike, who is hiding on the roof, manages to get on top of a semi that is leaving.  The driver discovers his erstwhile hitchhiker, and after Mike gives him a story about trying to get away from a crazy wife, the driver offers to take Mike north with him.  Instead of accepting, however, Mike, who is afraid that Lyle will kill Suzanne, asks to be dropped off at her house.  When he gets there, he convinces her to leave with him.  


They use Suzanne’s car, but it is low on gas and Mike has to stop in the next town to buy fuel.  While he is inside paying, Suzanne heads to the bar across the street.  He follows and tries to convince her to leave, but she talks him into having a few drinks first, and Mike gets too drunk to drive.  Suzanne convinces him they should spend the night at a nearby hotel where she seduces him.  In the morning Mike insists that they get going, but Suzanne says she needs to make a quick stop in Red Rock first because Wayne has stolen all her money and stashed it at the bar.  Against his better judgement, Mike reluctantly agrees which proves to be a terrible mistake.  


I don’t want to spoil the ending, so that’s all I’m going to say, except to assure you that there isn’t one dull moment in this action-packed film.  I’ll be back next week to discuss another of my favorite movies.  Until then enjoy a flick…or two.