Red (2008)

Powerful

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Admirable film.

Absolutely brilliant

I have seen Brian Cox in over a dozen films, including the Bourne Trilogy, but I doubt if I have ever seen as fine a performance as he gave in this film. he just wanted the truth, and damn those who try to hide it.You have to have had a dog and lost a dog to know the depths of feeling that was in Avery Ludlow (Cox). You have to have loved and lost to know what is important. You have to have sacrificed for others to hold the truth as high as Avery did. All his feelings and experiences made for a powerful story, and Cox delivered like I have never seen him do before.There were many other very good performances in this film as it built to an explosive climax, and a sweet ending.

Old Ludlow is an ex soldier. He took horrible blows along the way but survives and now live peacefully with his dog, Red. Then in an unfortunate day a teenager shots it in the head for no apparent reason.Ludlow, wants justice.It is apparently a high mountain to climb. But his soldier mentality keep him going. "As long I have something in my hand, I will keep fighting. Because if I stop, the world will rolling over me." And being old, he is a wiser man, despite the incident had cut open his old wound, he stays cool."Red" is not a violent movie, nor it needs some cgi visualization. Everything is measured and well act, you'll think its real.They don't make this kind of movie anymore, not because its hard to made, but because they don't get megabucks out of it.So, if you have the opportunity, don't let this rare gem passed.

**SPOILERS** 64 year-old widower Avery "Ave" Ludlow, Brian Cox, was totally unprepared for what was to happen to him and his beloved dog and life-long companion-of 14 years-Red when he went down fishing at the nearby lake by his home. Confronted by this trio of local teenagers lead by the snot nosed and spoiled rotten Danny McComrack, Noel Fisher,they at first threaten to mug Ave and steal his pick-up truck. As Ave was trying to talk some sense into their heads that, almost as an after-thought, Danny pointed his 12 gage shotgun at Red and shot him to death! Left alone Ave who got Red as a fiftieth birthday present,from his late wife, now felt that the only thing he can do for Red is to bring his killer-Danny-to justice. The justice that Ave sought was for Danny and his friends his brother Harold, Kyle Gallner, and Pete, Shiloh Frenandez, who just stood by and did nothing to Stop Danny from shooting Red to apologize for what they did. Getting nowhere and even being threatened by Danny's dad Mr. McCormack, Tom Sizemore, with a lawsuit for unnecessary harassment Ave went to local TV News reporter Carrie Donnal, Kim Dickens, to get his story out to the public. This lead to both Ave and Carrie being targeted by Mr. McCormack & Son Danny with both psychical violence, with Ave's hardware store being torched, and lawsuits in Carrie's story destroying his, and Danny's, reputations as upright and honest citizens.Not backing off for a minute in his seeking justice for Red, all Ave wanted was an apology and nothing else, lead to Danny trying to take matters into his own hand by, from behind no less, attacking Ave with a baseball bat. This "macho" act on Danny's part, him 17 attacking a man old enough to be his grandfather, backfired badly on him with Danny ending up with the wind being knocked, with his own baseball bat, out of him by Ave. ***SPOILERS***It's when Danny's dad the self-righteous and nobody tells me or my boy what to do Mr. McCormack tried to finish the job that his son started that things really got out of hand. So much out of hand that it lead to a bloodbath that practically wiped out the entire McCormack clan! Whch included Harold-Danny's younger brother-who at least had the common sense to apologize to Ave for what his spoiled and crazy brother Danny did!Trying to just get a simple apology from Danny wasn't asking too much on Ave's part in what he did by cold-bloody blowing away his dog Red. It was when Danny and his dad started to escalated the already explosive situation way out of proportions that Ave finally lost it. As peaceful and non-violent as Ave was he just couldn't turn his back on what both Danny and his father, in trying to run him out of town, were trying to do to him. In the end both Danny and his pop, as well as the innocent Harold, ended up paying a lot more for what they did to Ave, after Danny killed his dog Red, then they could have ever dreamed of!

While fishing in Miller's Band with his dog Red, the lonely widower and owner of a small general store Avery Ludlow (Brian Cox) is surrounded by three teenage thieves seeking money and without any reason, one of them shoots Red on the head. Avery investigates the empty cartridge and finds the owner of the shotgun Danny McCormack (Noel Fisher), his brother Harold (Kyle Gallner) and their friend Pete Doust (Shiloh Fernandez). Avery seeks out Danny's father Michael McCormack (Tom Sizemore) that is a corrupt businessman expecting excuses and punishment for the boys, but he finds an arrogant man that does not pay attention to his complaints about the cruelty of Danny to his dog. He decides to sue Danny using his friend and lawyer Sam Berry (Richard Riehle), but Mr. McCormack uses his political influence to obstruct justice. The reporter Carrie Donnel (Kim Dickens) makes a program for TV showing the cruelty of the offender and how justice does not work, but again Mr. McCormack affects her work. However, Avery does not give up of his quest for justice.Yesterday I saw the trailer of "Red" and I liked what I saw, so I decided to watch this movie expecting to see a sort of "Death Wish". However the story is a powerful drama with a complex lead character performed by the veteran Brian Cox. In this regard, it is great to see the quest for justice of an old man against the corrupt system ruled by money and influence. The cast is superb, with Noel Fisher perfect in the role of the mean Danny, and Tom Sizemore in an awesome performance in the role of the patriarch of a dysfunctional family. Unfortunately the conclusion is not well resolved and quite pointless. The Brazilian title misleads the viewer, giving a wrong idea of the plot. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Rastros de Vingança" ("Tracks of Revenge")