User reviews

In "Red Letters", Coyote is at the vortex of as a college professor who writes to a female prison inmate and gets more than he bargained for. There are two reasons to watch this flick...Kinski is one and Piven the other although it's difficult for their sparks to shine in such a complete directorial disaster. Everything is wrong with "Red Letters"...convoluted, lousy screenplay, camera, editing, and most of all acting which is subpar for Coyote, etc. Battersby has taken a story with potential and turned it into a seriously flawed and amateurish flick not worth the time.

What a great cast and what a pathetic attempt at a film. The script is full of holes from beginning to end. Incoherent, not cohesive...utterly ridiculous. One of the most talented/beautiful actresses in the world (and I'm talking about Nastassja Kinski) is without a single memorable line here. Worse, she supposedly dyes her hair halfway thru the movie, but it's obvious she's just wearing a cheap black wig bought from a drag queen costume shop. The best moments are given to a character actor and his dog in the apartment building that lead actor Peter Coyote lives in. Fairuza Balk is photographed poorly, to boot. She looks like an overweight freshman who's pigged out at too many all-you-can-eat-student-cafeteria-buffets. I was so looking forward to this film. I WANTED to like it, but I think I'd rather watch Nastassja read the phone book, with her OWN hair.

Like many other respondents, I ran across this genially goofy mystery while surfing and didn't expect to stick with it more than a few minutes. But it grabbed me from the beginning and held up almost to the end. Thanks to the person who noted that the film was shot in 21 days on a shoestring. That accounts for the gaps in the plot (like certain scenes that we expect to see but were probably never filmed). But the shoestring production makes the acting, the comic touches, and the overall unpredictability of the plot all the more impressive. The screenplay found some really ingenious things to do with these likable characters.

It wouldn't work without excellent performances. The director strikes me as someone who really works well with actors. Coyote gives a really fine comic performance, showing more emotional range than he's usually allowed to. Balk, Piven, and Kinski are also very good. Ernie Hudson, who has played this cop role a dozen times, is a treat in the knowing and yet not smug notes he hits. You get the feeling he's seen it all, knows exactly where it's going, and will just let it get there before he steps in to mop things up.

The film struck me as primarily a comedy (which is pretty much given away near the end by the little alligator in Pauly Shore's backyard wading pool)--but I'm surprised more respondents haven't noticed this. It had me consistently chuckling throughout.

I guess I'm a sucker for these offbeat little films that you don't expect much from. But in the last few months, I've left the local multiplex shaking my head in disbelief that good filmmakers could make "big" thrillers as bad as Twisted and Taking Lives. Red Letters is a heck of a lot more fun to watch, and deserves more exposure.

It's a shame, really, that the script of this film had more holes than you could shake a stick at (mixed metaphor intentional), because Kinski and Coyote - both supremely talented performers who are capable of great subtlety and nuance - have wonderful chemistry together, and the always-provocative Fairuza Balk didn't hurt the mix either. Jeremy Piven would have been great here too, if his character (and all the other supporting characters) hadn't been written as a plot device. As for the main proceedings, the writers just didn't know how to create the suitable guilty-or-innocent tension for Kinski's character -- instead they gave us confusion, contradiction and, by the finale, downright let's-hope-the-viewers-don't-notice claptrap.

Caught this on DVD. Watched it mainly because I like most of the cast members -- Coyote, the luscious Kinski and Faruzia Balk, and Jeremy Piven (from THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW). Assumed from the cover it was going to be one of those late night cable erotic thrillers (and the delicious nudity contained within the opening scene seemed to confirm that), but it turned out to be much more.

An interesting, twisty story, well shot and well directed, with across-the-board good performances from all involved. Even Pauly Shore (I suffered a chill of dread when he showed up late in the film) was okay. Coyote's dilemma escalates steadily throughout the film in a compelling fashion, so I was disappointed when the third act didn't pay things off in a way I found believable, or up to the level of the rest of the picture. Still, well worth giving a look. A real pleasant surprise.

It is easy to criticize this movie and others have already pointed out its deficiencies. The movie is available on DVD and has director's commentary in which is revealed that the movie was shot in 21 days on a minimal budget. Or as the commentary says: this commentary details how one goes about making a movie under considerable time and budgetary restraints. The performances by the actors are first rate. The script is filled with many logical flaws and oversights that are exacerbated by the ending of the movie. Meaning, that one can then work backwards and see the major holes in the script because the ending seems to sabotage the entire theme of the movie. Still it is more than watchable because of what is up on the screen. Nastassja is Nastassja and it is almost always rewarding to watch her on the screen, if she has sufficient material to work her magic. There is an underlying tension throughout the movie in which one wonders if Lydia Davis, the Nastassja Kinski character, is manipulating the academic and overmatched Peter Coyote character. You will have to watch the movie and see for yourself.

OK,I make alot comments about Kinski movies,but everyone has their favorite artists. This movie is just fun from start to finish. And it does keep you on the edge of your seat. There doesn't seem to be a wasted moment in this movie; every scene is there for a reason. Just good film making and good acting all around. I think the title would make more sense if the prof's book had been explained in greater detail.

This was a surprise. Peter Coyote is one of the few actors I can imagine who actually convinces you that he is an expert on Hawthorne. Unlike many such movies, the college setting was convincing. Nastassja Kinski smolders quietly, and effectively, as the girl who may or may not be a murderer, Fairuza Balk is enticing and funny as the dean's daughter who falls for Coyote, and when is it not a pleasure to watch Jeremy Piven doing "Jeremy Piven"?

Any movie that makes you want to re-read Hawthorne is worth watching. Maybe For English Majors Only, but thoroughly enjoyable to the end.

"Red Letters" happens to be one of the must see movies I have to watch. A great cast of characters goes along with the plot, and it's very suspenseful as well. Peter Coyote did a spectacular job playing the reluctantly helpful Professor Dennis Burke, and Fairuza Balk looked good as student Gretchen Van Buren. Nastassja Kinski is the hot and sexy convict Lydia Davis, who's desperate need of being cleared of a crime. I think the four pictures of the photo booth was rather kinky. Lydia(Kinski) taking off her sweater. The question is what resulted of her state, Bra? or Braless? Who knows? The one scene where Lydia runs into Gretchen, and changes clothes with each other. That was strange. However, noticing Dennis' odd behavior gets him kicked out of school, but somehow it was worth it because of his conscience of finding the truth about Lydia's innocence. The movie was great, it has plenty to go on, and it's a big keeper in the video library. Rating 4 out of 5 stars.

Has to be on of Peter Coyote's best acting jobs today. Of course Peter is most recognized from his charater in the epic film E.T. and of course, who can forget The Legend of Billy Jean. Peter portrays and alcoholic college professor(Dennis Burke) just released from a former College on the grounds of sexual harassment. Opening scene in this movie is one of a kind. At his new College, Dennis is befriended by a wanna be computer hacker, Thurston Clarque(Jeremy Piven), and not a bad portrayal of the computer hacker from Piven. As Dennis tries to adjust to his new living, he begins receiving letters from an unknown woman(Natassja Kinski), trying to reach the man that once lived in the apartment. Dennis begins making contact with this myterious woman, and only to find out that she is in a woman's correctional facility, for a brutal crime she claims she didn't do. If things couldn't get any more complicated for Dennis, his sexually frustrated student, Gretchen, played by flawlessly by (Fairuza Balk ) is now infatuated with him, probably because of the sexual art book he wrote in the past. Trying to deal with Gretchen and Lydia, Dennis' friend Thurston has some how hacked in the correctional facility to help Lydia escape. Reasons for this act are not clearly informed in the movie. now Lydia is out of jail and Thurston now in custody, puts Dennis in a world of lies, deciet, and murder. Other fellow cast members include Ernie Hudson who gives a great supporting actn and Udo Kier. Watch and enjoy.

I'm usually not fond of HBO movies, but this one was a little more well-written than the rest of them. The acting was so-so, however what should be expected? (Beggers can't be choosers, right?) At times unintentionally hilarious (The fact Peter Coyote's character liked to use four letter words a lot got funny after it got derivative) but halfway into the picture the tawdryness dimmed down and it actually turned into a interesting crime mystery.

Not worth renting, but if it's on HBO again you might want to check it out.

I kept expecting to turn it off at any moment, yet the characters were unpredictable and the writing kept this little film moving along at a nice clip. Before I knew it I was hooked. Sure, the plot gets a little clunky near the end, but everyone involved with this picture seemed to enjoy themselves. There is even an homage to Demme's Something Wild, which this film begins to resemble near the end. Overall, three stars, and sure to be a minor hit for the few video stores that are likely to pick this up.

Good performances by a great cast. Fairuza Balk looked great as a student who knew how to raise her grade in more ways than one. Peter Coyote played a widowed professor obsessed with the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne and a sucker for the young women in his class. The plot was refreshing unpredictable and complex. The sexual undertones and twists were reminiscent of the movie "Body Heat". Jeremy Piven provided some great comic relief moments as the computer science professor turned internet hacker. This made for an entertaining and interesting movie worth watching. Look for a cameo by Pauly Shore, too.

Peter Coyote plays a famous writer of erotic literature who also teaches college classes on Nathaniel Hawthorne. He keeps having affairs with his nubile co-ed students, not because he's a letch, but because they keep throwing themselves at him like they were in heat. After a sex scandal, he moves to a new college where he is immediately pursued by the dean's daughter (the always enjoyable Fairuza Baulk). He also gets involved with a sexy female convict (Nastassja Kinski), who may or may not have killed the wife of her ex-lover (Udo Kier), after he inadvertently reads some letters she sends to the former resident of his new apartment. There is some ridiculous Rube Goldberg-type plotting involving a fellow professor/erstwhile computer hacker (Jeremy Piven) and the convict's sexy white-trash sister (Layla Roberts). Eventually, the female convict escapes and ends up hiding out in the professor's apartment.

This movie is way more ambitious than your average "erotic thriller", but that doesn't mean it quite works. It begins promisingly with a naked co-ed sitting on the professor's desk reading erotic passages from his own novel to him. But after that there is pretty much no sex or nudity at all, a huge mistake for this kind of film. It's totally understandable that Nastassja Kinki may have grown weary of being sexually exploited. (She wasn't yet 40 at the time but had already been doing it for 25 years). But this probably wasn't the best role to take then. Still, Kinski is a talented actress and her entire appeal is not based on her getting naked. That's also never been the appeal of cult actress Fairuza Baulk. It's inexcusable though to cast a "Playboy Playmate"/"Baywatch" babe like Layla Roberts in a movie and have her keep her clothes on. Those girls were never known for their acting. (It's kind of like calling a plumber, paying him, and then telling him to forget about the clogged-up sink, you need help with your taxes).

Of course, both the sister and the more interesting Piven character are completely superfluous to the plot to begin with, and Udo Kier is similarly wasted in a brief, throwaway role. That's the other main problem with the movie--it has way too many loose narrative strands. There is a potentially interesting subplot where the professor is pressured by the administration to give an undeserved grade to a spoiled, barely black female student for purely "PC" reasons, but they really should have either developed this subplot or dropped it altogether. And then there's a scene where they visit a former tenant (Pauly Shore) who now lives in a hothouse with a bunch of snakes. I'm sorry, but there is NEVER a good reason to put Pauly Shore in a movie (there's no such thing as NON-gratuitous Pauly Shore). This should have definitely met the editing-room floor. By this time, the movie has become absurdist black comedy, but you should probably realize a movie is absurdist, black comedy well before it's three-quarters of the way over.

I can give this movie some points for creativity and ambition (and a pretty impressive cast), but it's definitely not a success overall.