Let the dance begin!
Red Rock West (1993) is a tale in which the least admirable of motivations, avariciousness, dominates nearly every leading character, and this dark path leads to film noir. Michael, a former Marine, is wandering Wyoming searching for a job. He drifts into a bar in Red Rock and accepts an unspecified job from the bar owner when he’s mistaken for someone else. When the job turns out to be to kill the bar owner’s wife, well, he’s dead broke and what else is there to do?
Go to the bar owner’s wife and inform her of her danger. She offers him a job – to kill her husband.
Michael considers his options and ends up writing and mailing a note to the sheriff, explaining the situation. But as he leaves town that night, he hits someone with his car, and, being afflicted with an urge to do good, he picks the guy up and takes him to the hospital, where he waits to hear the condition of the man. What he doesn’t know is that the man is also suffering from gun shot wounds. The surgeon notifies law enforcement when they discover them, and so the local deputies arrive to detain him until the sheriff can talk to him.
And the sheriff is the bar owner.
Soon, Michael’s running across the landscape, sheriff in hot pursuit, until he’s picked up by an out of town man with whom he shares a link – they’re both former Marines. All is well and good until the man mentions that he’s looking for the Red Rock West bar owner in order to get the details on a “job.”
The plot is intricate and, if you’re not paying attention, this movie will turn into a puzzling drag. But otherwise you may find yourself drawn into a plot which is uncompromising in following the twists and turns, including the final crick which explains who shot the man Michael originally took to the hospital, as well as why.
A good story, well told, with good technical support, I found myself really enjoying this movie. It parcels out information in dribs and drabs, making it difficult to guess where the movie might be going next. In the end, I was perhaps a little disappointed at the lack of actual growth in any of the characters, but that’s not unusual. I’d say this is a minor classic of the genre, and worth your time.
