It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

When a promised job for Michael fails to materialise in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne, the town Sheriff, to be the hit-man he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hit-man, who happens to be Dennis Hopper....Red Rock West is one of Dahl's more overlooked movies, but it's certainly one of the best, and in my opinion, it's a more satisfying experience than 'The Last Seduction'.But it's probably because I saw it a long time after its release, and it has two great performances from the late Hopper and Walsh, both of whom never failed to disappoint, but most of all, its so good to see Cage put in a great performance, because as we all know, he's not been too picky with his choice of roles lately.The story is great, the narrative handles the twists cleverly, and it has that classy feel to it, a thriller you can really get your teeth into, and even though you know that Cage will come good, the film has so many surprises, you can forgive the predictability.Well worth watching.

Taking a look at a poll that was held on the IMDb Classic Film board for the best movies of 1993,I found myself getting constantly drawn towards a Neo-Noir called Red Rock West,due to having heard a large amount of praise for the title over the year.Sadly,with the price of the DVD being pretty expensive,I regrettably decided to push any plans to take a look at this tantalising Neo-Noir to the side.2 weeks later:Being happily caught completely by surprise,I recently received an offer from a very kind IMDb'er ,who asked if I would be interested in borrowing the DVD of the film,which led to me excitingly getting ready to pay a long over due visit to Red Rock West.The plot:Angered over getting turned down for a construction job due to having an injury which he picked up in the Vietnam war,Michael Williams drives towards a small town called Red Rock West,after getting advised by a gas station worker to pay a visit to a bar in the town called Wayne's Place,where there is a good chance that Williams will be able to pick up a bar staff job.Finding Wayne Brown at the front of the bar,Michael decides to not reveal his full background details to Brown,when Wayne asks Williams if he is "The Lyle who has come here for a job?".Pretending to be Lyle,Williams expectations of being given a bar job by Brown are left in ruins,when Wayne reveals to him that "Lyle" has not been hired to work at the bar,but has in fact been chosen by Brown to be a hit-man for his wife.View on the film:Placing the dark heart of this Neo-Noir in a full to the brim whisky bottle,co-writer/ (along with his brother Rick) director John Dahl and cinematography Marc Reshovsky soak the film in a warm Neo-Noir Western atmosphere,with Dahl and Reshovsky shooting the movie in brilliant sun setting colours,which along with allowing every member of the cast face's to have a world weary quality about them,also allows Reschovsky and Dahl to show the dark secrets that all the residence of Red Rock West are desperately trying to keep out of the light.Continuing with the underlying Western theme in the excellent screenplay,John and Rick Dahl show the Wyoming town of Red Rock West to be a fading sun-lit Neo-Noir world,where everyone knows each others secrets and deals on how the town is run are made by secret drinks,and beer stained back-hander's,which is seriously threatened of being buckled,by the arrival of two "outlaws" from Texas,one being an unlucky soul who is at the wrong place,at the very worst time,and the other one being a black-clad wearing gunslinger,who wants to take the power of the town all for himself.Being given the chance to sizzle on the screen as this Neo-Noir's sole Femme Fatale,I was disappointed to find Lara Flynn Boyle give a rather frozen performance as Suzanne Brown,with Boyle failing to blend into John Dahl wonderful shadowy world,and also being unable to give the dialogue the fizzle that it richly deserves.Whilst Boyle sadly fails from setting the fuse off,the rest of the cast thankfully attack the movie with a burning hot,ten ton hammer,with J.T. Walsh giving an tremendous performance as Wayne Brown,thanks to Walsh showing Brown to go gradually more desperate for the killing of his wife to take place,and Walsh also taking full advantage of Dahl's stylish directing,by using the close ups to reveal the darkened lies and dirty deals that lay behind the scar's on Wayne's face.Entering this Neo-Noir like a fire breathing dragon,Dennis Hooper gives a fiery performance as the "real" Lyle,with Hooper showing Lyle's initially well meaning first appearance to be quickly slashed away and replaced by an outlaw whose only language is increasing the dirty money that is placed in his hands.Kept right at the centre for the whole of the film,Nicolas Cage gives an extremely strong performance,which carefully balances Michael Williams being a down to earth.down on his luck guy,with an increasing,potential deadly desire to get hold of the cash and the woman that are both just out of William's reach,which leads to Red Rock West being a gravel road that is defiantly worth travelling down.

There are certain people who scream out to be typecast. Looing for a small-town bigwig with an air of corruption and a nasty streak? How about the late (and much lamented) JT Walsh? How about a contract killer with superficial charm and a centre of pure viciousness? Has to be the late (and even more lamented) Dennis Hopper. Penniless drifter with a hard luck story? Nicolas Cage, who else? Only femme fatale wife of small-town bigwig doesn't immediately scream Lara Flynn Boyle, but she does a perfectly adequate job in the role.Red Rock West is a noir movie, updated for modern audiences. The plot involves murder plots, opportunism, corruption, double-dealing, and assorted twists and turns, and is splendid fun. The performances are all dark, and all the principals get their teeth into the piece.Highly recommended, if you're in the mood for some dark fun.

John Dahl knows his film-noir, and he knows his westerns. This should be assumed from seeing Red Rock West, though his 'noir' influence comes through in other films as well (Kill Me Again and to a degree Joy Ride). He knows how to write a lone average-Joe type of character, and the shady villain, and a sexy Femme Fatale. He knows this, but he also fills his story of a drifter coming to a small Wyoming town and being (accidentally?) hired to kill a man's wife with some top-shelf talent. Or, at least, the best actors that could make the parts their own.It's a cold little movie where you realize pretty quickly that despite Michael's "nice-guy" quality, he's still a potential thief and is the comparatively not so bad. Not so bad compared to Wayne the "bartender" or "Sheriff", if that is indeed his name, and his wife who wants to escape to Mexico with all of the money she "inherited" (please note the quotations). An extra slice of danger comes with the appearance of the actual man hired to kill the woman, Lyle from Dallas played by the late Dennis Hopper. His character and performance is far less aggressive than in Blue Velvet, though this is like comparing a Tasmanian Devil to a bull at a fight.I liked the suspense, of not knowing who might double-cross who next or where the story might go depending on who is alive, and I also liked that they gave each character something to them. Michael and Lyle meet up the first time under unusual circumstances and he gives Michael a ride, where they each find out they were marines, Michael formerly a fighter in a botched mission in Lebanon. This is mentioned about halfway into the film, but it helps to set up this guy as a somewhat tragic figure, without a home and without a job but all of those memories he'd rather not take with him. Certainly not to Mexico, where he has nice ones with his father.Again, the casting and the writing is what makes the film. Lara Flynn Boyle works just about perfect as the female figure of desire and greed, and even if we've seen something like her before she's still fresh because of her performance. JT Walsh is also good but in a different way, where he's a lot more careful with his words, but one can see the look of panic when it surely comes. And Nicolas Cage, at first seemingly a little bored with the part in the opening scenes, really makes it his own as a reluctant hero with nothing to lose. Dialog is used in the film only so much to keep things moving along, but I mean this as a compliment; it's not minimalism, but economy of speech if that makes sense. Dahl knows exactly what he wants in his B-movie premise, and it's like he's taken material sitting on a shelf for years and dusted it and made it vital again.