A massive departure from his usual comedy films, Red State is not only writer/director Kevin Smith’s best looking movie but it may be his most controversial.

Red State revolves around a cult like mega church in the vein of the Jim Phelps led Westboro Baptist Church in which the patriarchal preacher Abin Cooper (Michael Parks) is the literal father, grandfather or husband of pretty much everyone in the congregation. Like Westboro, the Three Points Church protests funerals of gay men and women and does its level best to disrupt the lives of those different from themselves. The Three Pointers take things a bit farther, however, and begin luring victims into a trap and then executing them in the church. When they lure three local teens in to the web with a promise of free sex it sets off a chain reaction that can only end in massive violence and bloodshed.

I have been a Kevin Smith fan for a very long time and I have supported his films even when the fair-weather were turning their backs but I have to admit I was very worried about this film. I don’t think that he is a terrible visual filmmaker, as is the popular storyline, but the level of suspense and violence we are talking about here seemed to be a lot to bite off for a guy who usually sticks to two-shots filled with dialogue. For the most part, my fears were unwarranted.

The shots and camera movement offered up here are head and shoulders above anything we have ever seen in the past from Smith. The complaints that he doesn’t know how to move his camera have to be put to rest at this point as he shows confidence and that confidence pays off in his best looking movie to date. Of course, there was a lot riding on this for him and it would be very easy to become overindulgent or too sparing with the camera moves. Smith manages to avoid this pitfall and finds a perfect balance between talky one and two shots and more dynamic camera moves and set ups.

The shots are very nice but they would lose a great deal of impact if the atmosphere and tone had been botched. Both are handled well and help add to the overall intensity of the picture. As the hostages try to escape, the sense of growing fear and dread is effectively conveyed and the scenes deliver on the promise of impact. I found myself very impressed by the level of stress and intensity the early portions of the film achieve and I found myself some-what tense for the characters and what they are going through.

Early on the pacing is spot on and clips along at just the right speed but as the movie progresses, it starts to lose a few steps and ultimately stumbles across the finish line instead of running triumphantly with a trophy already in your hand. The biggest issue here may have less to do with the pacing in terms of editing but rather with the balance of the story which establishes protagonists only to essentially abandon them while a whole new batch of characters come in to handle the resolution. This disconnect from the audience is a bit of a problem and undersells the final action as it is hard to emotionally engage. That it goes off at a 90 degree angle in the final act does not help matters at all.

These late pacing issues would be a fatal flaw to the whole picture if the dialogue and performances weren’t so good but given that they are I feel more inclined to let the final act’s deficits slid a bit. Smith is well known for his dialogue but even though this is every bit as profanity laden as his other films, the dialogue here is as far removed from his comedy work as you can get. Even without the humor to fall back on, Smith provides dialogue that is clever and engaging. The man can turn a phrase and Cooper’s sermon early on in the film is the best example of it. Despite being filled with batshit crazy sentiment, the speech is captivating.

As good as the writing is here, a lot of the credit for how it appears on screen has to go with the amazing cast Smith has assembled. Michael Parks is flawless as Abin Cooper and finds just the right balance of righteousness and insane zealotry. His performance alone is reason enough to watch this. Melissa Leo is just about as good as (one of ) Cooper’s wife and gives us a character that is very clearly crazy without going overboard into caricature. Kyle Gallner is spot on as one of the ill fated teens and really goes the distance and isn’t too cool to let his character go completely unhinged with terror. John Goodman and Kevin Pollack are late entries who do a great job with what they have and Stephen Root does a great job as a coward who fucks things up royally.

A lot of the controversy in this movie is going to stem from just what Smith is getting at with it and I think it is pretty clear that he is pointing out that people are fucked up on both sides of the equation and that hate and violence isn’t the answer. The message is a bit heavy handed and there are viewers who may feel like ends of the film haven’t justified the means of the film. A lot of that is going to come down to how much violence you are willing to put up with and how sensitive you are politically and spiritually. There are going to be people who think the film is saying that all Christians are crazy homicidal homophobes and that is not at all what is going on here. Likewise, some might assume it is a swipe at Republicans ET AL but again, that is not the case and really doesn’t enter into it that much. What we have here is a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked zealotry when colliding with unchecked fear and reactionary violence. Whether or not the film has earned the outcome is up to the sensibilities of the viewer.

Conclusion [8.0 out of 10]

Red State is going to be a divisive film and in some ways it earns that and in some ways it doesn’t. Smith has gone outside of his wheel house to give us a movie that is mostly successful at what it tries and when it doesn’t, the failure is admirable. In terms of sensibility, I would recommend it to people who are a fan of his dialogue, understanding that this isn’t funny and isn’t meant to be and to people who are fans of films like the Devil’s Rejects but wish that there was more religious debate thrown in the mix. Red State is bleak, hardcore, violent and intense. If you like the sound of that then check it out on pay per view or the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray release.