RED CORNER
RATING: 6.5 / 10 --> So-so
Review Date:
September 13, 1998
Director:
Jon Avnet
Writer:
Robert King
Producers:
Jon Avnet and Jordan Kerner
Actors:
Richard Gere as Jack
Moore
Bai Ling as Shen Yuelin
Genre:
Thriller
Year of Release: 1997
Richard Gere follows his
heart and stars in this picture that ironically pits his
character against the government of China. Let it be known that
Gere, a devout Buddhist, does not generate a huge following
amongst the officials of the Chinese government, as his stance
for the freedom of Tibet has been widely documented.
PLOT:
Businessman Moore (Gere) goes to China to negotiate distribution
rights to American television programs with the government of
China. During a reckless night out, Mr. Moore hooks up with a
sexy Chinese woman, bringing her back to his apartment for a
little nightcap. The next day, Moore is awakened by the Chinese
police, who charge him with the murder of said sexy Chinese
woman, now lying dead in apartment. If found guilty, Moore could
face the firing squad. The US embassy, many high-ranking Chinese
officials, and an intelligent Chinese defense lawyer all get
involved in this mysterious case.
CRITIQUE:
Interesting, insightful, somewhat derivative, and a tad overlong,
suspense tale that managed to keep me awake and entertained
through most of its hackneyed tactics and plot twists. Granted, I
recently saw RETURN TO PARADISE (7.5/10) set in Malaysia, which was much
more original and gripping. True, the ultimate
American-caught-in-a-foreign-jail-cell film will always be
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (8/10). But having said that, this film was good
enough for what it was (mindless entertainment for Mrs. JoBlo, me
and some nachos on a Saturday nite), and even offered some small
moments of actual suspense.
The acting was so-so on Gere's part, who seems to be walking
through most of his roles of late, (on his way to the Dalai
Lama's pad, I imagine) but a great performance by his defense
lawyer, Bai Ling, makes the characters much more compelling than
they might've been on paper. Another thing that I liked about
this film is the fact that it didn't just show the Chinese
justice system as an ancient, unfair system compared to our
"great"American counterpart. The film made sure that we
saw some of the strengths in their system, while simultaneously
demonstrating the real weaknesses that remain in ours.
All in all, the film is no masterpiece by any stretch of the
"fish out of water movies" book of imagination, but I
guess it didn't really hurt while swallowing and left very little
taste in my mouth, so check it out if you feel like a decent
thrilling flick set in a foreign country starring the wonderboy
of salt-and-pepper hair, Richard Gere (Note: There's also a
decent shot of Rick's big white ass at one point in this
picture...if you're into that kind of thing, that is.) Keep in
mind that I found the ending to be rather anti-climactic, and
that the film could have been cut by about twenty minutes or so,
but with my nachos warm and my Coke cold as ice, what the heck
did I have to complain about ?!?
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars:
Richard
Gere was married to
supermodel by day, playboy centerfold by night, Cindy Crawford for about four years. He was born
in Philadelphia, and was banned from the Oscars once after making
anti-China comments on the air at the 1993 ceremony.
Screenwriter Robert King also wrote the script for one of the 90's
biggest flops: CUTTHROAT ISLAND.
Bai
Ling played the
character of Myca in the original CROW (8.5/10) film opposite Brandon Lee. She was born in China, in the
year 1970.
(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
Movie Reviews by Berge Garabedian