A retiree has formed a relationship with a customer service representative by tearing up his CIA checks and engaging her in conversation when he calls and asks that his checks be replaced. He now plans to visit her but not before his Parma Heights home (Cleveland whattup) is attacked by a group of agents. After swiftly dispensing them, he kidnaps the woman (whose life is also in danger for some reason) and reassembles his old team while trying to uncover why their ex-employers are out to kill them. From a graphic novel, Red (Retiree Extremely Dangerous, a CIA acronym) is an exercise with over-the-top lunacy that, with an excellent cast having fun and doing their best with the material is kind of fun. Just look at the roll call, which is a assortment of esteemed and respected thespians: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox, and Ernest Borgnine (I thought Malkovich was a hoot as a paranoid brain fried CIA agent). Like I said, the movie is fun but its paper thin plot eventually digresses into a 30 minute gun battle that closed the flick. Still, with a cast like this its hard to miss its worth the price of admission to see Helen Mirren picking off assassins with a sniper rifle in the snow.
