Red manages to balance the line between action thriller, and light comedy, and does it quite well.

Frank Moses(Bruce Willis) a former C.I.A. agent is now retired, and living a simply, and at times boring life. His only joy of the day when he calls Sarah(Mary Louise Parker) a customer service agent, who he likes, Frank pretends not to get a monthly check, just an excuse to talk to her. But Franks simply life is interrupted, when he learns that somebody has put hit on his life, he goes on the run, after escaping an attempt on his life. He takes Sarah along too, much to her dismay. And gets his old team back together(Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich) in hopes to uncover who is behind the hits, but will they before it's too late?

I really don't agree with the critics on this one. Red was entertaining. It's funny without trying to get overly silly. Action scenes where good. Bruce Willis, Mary Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, Karl Urban, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox, and Morgan Freeman. But it's John Malkovich who steals the show, with his funny one liners. And also a great co starring role by veteran actor Ernest Borgnine.

I some ways, I am not the best person to watch this film. While I have reviewed over 12500 movies so far, practically none of them were action films. It's one of my least favorite genres and to me, a lot of them look the same. I don't particularly care about explosions, machismo and the like. So why did I watch it? My uncle was in town and he wanted to see the film again...and I went on to be a good sport. Well, although the film didn't completely win me over to the genre, it was enjoyable and the sort of film a non-fan could enjoy.

The film begins in a rather mundane way. Bruce Willis is living in his suburban home--talking on the phone to a customer service lady. It seems they talk a lot and you can tell he really likes her--and he tells her he's coming to her town soon. However, it occurs MUCH sooner than either expected--as men in black attack Willis' home and try to kill him! He dispatches them quickly--leading you to believe it ain't just an ordinary guy!! And, from here on, he and his lady friend embark on a crazy adventure with LOTS of secret agents trying to kill them! Why? See the film for yourself.

"Red" works because the plot has some clever twists but more importantly because of some of the supporting characters--in particular the crazy guy played by John Malkovich. The film never takes itself all that seriously and has some clever moments--but, unfortunately, like too many films in the genre, a few too many explosions and gunfire exchanges (and practically NO ONE seems to die when 28408234012319 shots are fired). Not great but very good.

Like Michael Corleone, Bruce Willis is out and they drag him back in, but this isn't business. Someone has got a black ops operation on some retired black ops operators. Enough to make anyone see Red.

It's quite a reunion Willis has as he starts looking around and sees that a lot of former colleagues are meeting sudden demises. He gets to a few of them like Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich and he even gets a Russian consultant in former KGB agent Brian Cox. When they're not reminiscing about old times, Cox does help point them in the right direction.

Red must have taken some inspiration from the two Over The Hill gang movies from the Sixties. Without the western setting and those colorful western character actors, Red gets quite a few laughs in mostly from John Malkovich. He's easily the best performance in Red, playing a paranoid survivalist who has learned to be paranoid, it does keep the group alive or most of them in this film.

Willis has perfected a nice dead pan comic style in his performance. Although I really can't see what Mary Louise Parker, the young woman working at Social Security who gets involved with Willis and then enmeshed in their counter ops operation.

What's this all about, let's just say that it's coming from the highest or nearly the highest level possible. Someone doesn't want a lot of people around to tell tales. And at the end of the film I'd love to know how the government covers up what happens in the climax.

93 year old Ernest Borgnine is trying to surpass John Gielgud's record of still acting when he was 97 has a small, but important role as the record keeper in the underground vault of the Central Intelligence Agency. Talk about knowing where all the bodies are buried. Ernie looks remarkable for his age and this is not his last project.

Try to catch Red, it's stylish paranoia to be sure.