By Randy Myers
Contra Costa Times
“Red” is everything we’d hoped Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables” would be but wasn’t.
It’s kooky, brawny, brainy (OK, maybe we didn’t expect that from Sly) and outfitted with a geezer-ish cast of the highest order.
“Red” pulls off silly spy antics with snap and style, thanks to a zinger of a screenplay from brothers Erich and Jon Hoeber and A-list actors in sync with the material’s irreverence.
Quirky casting turns “Red” into a massive sandbox for veteran actors to romp in. But unlike the similarly star-stuffed “Oceans” series, director Robert Schwentke (“Flightplan”) never allows his crisply plotted film, loosely based on a graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, to descend into an out-of-control actors’ frat party.
Credit for keeping the Hollywood self-involvement at a minimum belongs to lead Bruce Willis, too. As lonely and retired ex-CIA agent Frank Moses (biblical reference executed well), Willis is puppy-eyed charming and tough. The role plays to Willis’ strong suit — a macho guy with a hunger for love and gunplay. It benefits the actor that the object of Frank’s affection is played by Mary-Louise Parker. Unfortunately, the “Weeds” actress is saddled with the thankless role of the annoying love interest who is first kidnapped by Frank and later participates in the mayhem. Both go on the run after the CIA targets Frank for assassination.
‘RED’* Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence and brief strong language.* Running time: 1 hour, 44 minutes.
“Red” gets cooking when Frank reteams with his put-out-to-pasture spy cronies. They include: Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), exiled to an assisted-living home; Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), who remains paranoid and trigger-happy from the LSD testing he underwent years ago; perfectly coifed Victoria (Helen Mirren), who runs a B&B and takes the occasional assassin gig; and Ivan (Brian Cox), a Russian who carries a torch for Victoria.
All are hilarious, but Malkovich and Mirren are the scene stealers. Malkovich has become the MVP for goofy supporting characters with this role — his scene involving a pink stuffed bunny and a Realtor will have you in tears — and his colorful turn in “Secretariat.”
Mirren, in a smaller part, is his equal as a Martha Stewart type (she based her performance on Stewart) with a license to kill. Her deadpan delivery is priceless.
But singling anyone out is a foolish endeavor because the ensemble is terrific. These are pros at work here, and they not only show up the new action-star punks but prove they’re far from expendable.