SXSW Review: Red White & Blue
The Austin-shot feature Red White & Blue, Simon Rumley's follow-up to The Living and the Dead, is a revenge-driven thriller that could be summed up as "sin begets sin." While violent and disturbing, Rumley's story explores how wrong people can go in certain circumstances, with three people with very different backgrounds creating a perfect storm of vengeance.
Erica's (Amanda Fuller) only occupation is trying to keep a roof over her head as she drifts from bar to bar, sleeping with any man who will have her. Spontaneous kindness from a drifter living in the same boarding house seems to bring stability and hope for something more, when one of her hook-ups discovers the cost of sleeping with her. Her history has turned her into the walking wounded, extracting a passive/aggressive Russian roulette on men who'll sleep with anyone. Nate (Noah Taylor) reveals the one trigger that will make him abandon his carefully maintained control. Franki's (Marc Senter) aspirations and indulgences cannot hide his infantile tendencies.
Red White & Blue is not a film for the squeamish; it's grim and unrepentantly sadistic, although no violence occurs until the third act. The violence isn't gratuitous, although some might assume otherwise due to its sheer callousness and the intensity of the lead performances. The actions are deliberate and justified by the characters' motivations. Neither is Red White & Blue a damaged-people drama with exploitive violence but a study of damaged psyches and their disconnection with fundamental mores. While stylistically different, at the core it's a logical progression from Rumley's previous feature, The Living and the Dead.
Shot in a near-guerilla style in three weeks, Red White & Blue has a raw energy that suits its Austin locale. Unfortunately, that rushed rawness bleeds into the pacing with frog-marched inevitability instead of seducing the audience into following along. It's hard to condemn Rumley's script, other than a momentary lapse of authentic dialogue, because all the components are in Red White & Blue to make a taut revenge thriller. But what's missing is time. At 102 minutes, the pace makes significant moments more jarring than shocking.
It's not the cast; there's onscreen chemistry between the two leads who interact the most, and the other who interacts with his friends. Erica is clearly damaged with a thousand-yard stare that could win contests. Amanda Fuller plays her with equal parts passive, sullen and naive. Erica's would-be savior Nate is menacing, with a heavy accent and a heavier psyche; while insisting on good manners, he also very quickly reveals extent of his darker nature, something he clearly prides himself in keeping in check. Hipster Franki is played with juvenile abandon by Marc Senter, suitable for a character whose ultimate childishness spurs his actions.
Despite the frustratingly disappointing pacing, Red White & Blue is still an intriguing study of the pressures that splinters a psyche and break the compact with social codes with tragic results. Ultimately, Red White & Blue works better days after viewing than immediately after when prejudices come into play.
Austin connections: With the exception of the final scenes shot in Big Bend, the entire film was shot around Austin. Locations include Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, the Broken Spoke, Horseshoe Bar, Emo's, Beauty Bar, Austin Diner, Toy Joy, Cucarachas, Breckenridge Hospital and Spider House as well as various residential areas.