There are few, if any, actors quite like Nicolas Cage. A man who inspires adulation and disbelief in equal measure. He’s starred in over a hundred films, and to put it politely, most are intensely forgettable. It seems almost bizarre now to think that he won an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas, but after a fairly long period in the theatrical wilderness, his star seems to be once again in the ascendency. In Red Rock West, he demonstrates what he does best.
Michael (Cage) is desperate for work after being discharged from the Marines. He arrives in Red Rock, Wyoming down on this luck and dispirited. In a bar, he’s mistaken for a hitman by the owner Wayne (J.T. Walsh). Assuming the identity of his hired killer, Michael takes on the task of murdering his wife Suzanne (Lara Flynn Boyle); but he can’t do it. Deciding to split town with the money. When the real assassin (Dennis Hopper) arrives, he isn’t happy.
Red Rock West digs deep into Southern neo-noir to create a pot-boiler of an unhinged thriller. John Dahl brings the wild frontier to deepest darkest rural America with his tale of betrayal, attraction and revenge. Cage, Hopper and Boyle all chew up the scenery in equal measure. While it does naval-gaze a little too much, the focus and pacing keeps it on track. Ensuring that Red Rock West is an engaging and tense drama.
Special features:
- High-Definition Transfer
- UK Blu-ray™ Premiere
- Still Gallery
- Optional English SDH Subtitles for the Main Feature
- Audio Commentary with Director John Dahl
- New Interview with Director John Dahl
- New interview with Editor Scott Chestnut
- New interview with actor Dale Gibson
- “Caged In” host Petros Patsilivas talks Nicolas Cage’s performance
- Booklet by Ian Schultz
- Poster
Red Rock West is released on Blu-ray by Signal One on 22 August.
