Red Rock West (1993) ****

Red Rock West (1993) is the best Jim Thompson adaptation Jim Thompson never wrote. Despite a suitably James M. Cain-like twisty-turny plot, there’s no real surprises in the film, but it’s handled so effectively, photographed so beautifully, and acted so well, that it’s a wholly satisfying experience. 

It’s a treat to see three actors of this calibre (Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle) from three different David Lynch projects (1990’s Wild At Heart (review), 1986’s Blue Velvet (review), and Twin Peaks (1990–1991), respectively) together in one film and I personally love when Cage is more subdued, as he is here. The always excellent J.T. Walsh provides the icing on the cake. William Olvis’ appropriately twangy and atmospheric score—a cross between Ry Cooder and Angelo Badalamenti—provides the perfect backdrop to this blackly humorous, western-tinged, deception-heavy neo-noir.

Recommended for fans of After Dark, My Sweet (1990), The Hot Spot (1990), Blood Simple (1984) (review), Body Heat (1981), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) (review), and Double Indemnity (1944) (review).

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