Red Rock West

Red Rock West is a modern film noir with twists upon twists and characters with the behaviour of rats tied in a sack.

Its a gritty thriller with Nicholas Cage ends up in a bar and lies which leads him to all sorts of trouble. The bartender played by JT Walsh mistakes him for a hit-man and wants him to take out his wife.

Lara Flynn Boyle is his hot wife and it looks she has a thing with a ranch hand and Cage warns her about her husband. As Cage leaves town in the pouring rain he hits a pedestrian and takes him to hospital. The police close in on him about the accident and the elected sheriff is suspicious and he turns out to be JT Walsh.

Before long Dennis Hopper turns up as another suspicious character and then its a case of who to trust and who is lying while Cage tries to get away from Red Rock but keeps getting pulled back.

In the wrong hands this film would be preposterous and absurd. Director John Dahl has a sure touch for the drama, he gets the right types of performances from his main stars, good use of music and action scenes and piles on the twists and double crosses.

The 1990s were a good decade for Dahl and his Thriller Noirs which were essentially made on a low budget. One thing to notice in this film is that the police outside the Sheriff are rather smart and on the ball.