red movie review

• Summit Entertainment

Summary Frank, Joe, Marvin and Victoria used to be the CIA's top agents - but the secrets they know just made them the Agency's top targets. Now framed for assassination, the must use all of their collective cunning, experience and teamwork to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers and stay alive. To stop the operation, the team embarks on ... Read More

Directed By : Robert Schwentke

Written By : Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Warren Ellis, Cully Hamner

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Bruce Willis

Frank moses, helen mirren, morgan freeman, joe matheson, mary-louise parker, heidi von palleske, woman neighbor, jefferson brown, william cooper, chris owens, rebecca pidgeon, cynthia wilkes, jaqueline fleming, randy wade kelley, jason giuliano, cop at intersection, lawrence turner, retirement home assassin, emily kuroda, retirement home detective, justine wachsberger, tara yelland, wilkes' secretary, ernest borgnine, henry, the records keeper, john malkovich, marvin boggs, critic reviews.

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• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 17 Reviews
• Kids Say 42 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Well-cast action comedy is entertaining -- but very violent.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that while this graphic novel-based action comedy is rated PG-13, its violence -- which is comparable to movies like Casino Royale and The Bourne Identity (also PG-13s) definitely approaches R-rated levels of intensity. The action sequences may be accompanied by plenty of laughs,…

Why Age 14+?

Lots of violence and a high body count. Once the protagonist is first ambushed,

Words like "s--t," "bitch," and "a--hole" are used infrequently; one "f--k." Als

Adult characters drink socially and do shots of vodka in a couple of scenes. The

Mostly cars like Volvo and and the Chevy Tahoe, as well as an older Chevrolet se

Hand-holding, a couple of passionate kisses and embraces, and one early scene in

Any Positive Content?

Sarah trusts Frank enough to help him uncover the truth. Frank embarks on a fact

The movie's message -- that senior citizens are still vibrant and useful -- is a

Violence & Scariness

Lots of violence and a high body count. Once the protagonist is first ambushed, barely a scene passes in which people aren't trying to kill or not be killed. People are shot to death, blown up (quite vividly), stabbed, hanged, and burned. Severed fingers are shown, and a couple of scenes include bloodied characters (especially when shot) and heavily bruised ones. Weapons include everything from everyday office supplies to rocket-propelled guns, and you'd probably need a military background to identify everything in between.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Words like "s--t," "bitch," and "a--hole" are used infrequently; one "f--k." Also "hell," "damn," "ass," "goddamn," and "oh my God."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adult characters drink socially and do shots of vodka in a couple of scenes. There's also a reference to the many years that Marvin was given LSD as part of a military experiment. One character drugs another as part of an abduction/rescue -- the drugged character makes a reference to feeling "high" when she wakes up.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Mostly cars like Volvo and and the Chevy Tahoe, as well as an older Chevrolet sedan.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Hand-holding, a couple of passionate kisses and embraces, and one early scene in which a female character undresses down to her slip. One character stares at a woman's bottom. Two characters' romantic relationship begins when one ties the other up and drugs her as part of a rescue.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Role Models

Sarah trusts Frank enough to help him uncover the truth. Frank embarks on a fact-finding mission to clear his name and save himself and his friends from being murdered; another character selflessly agrees to sacrifice himself to ensure that the mission can go forward. Marvin overcomes his fears to join the RED team.

Positive Messages

The movie's message -- that senior citizens are still vibrant and useful -- is a worthwhile take-away in our youth-obsessed culture. Although there are some obvious conspiracy-theory messages about defense contractor firms and the government, overall the story is about retirees you wouldn't want to mess with. On the downside, the way that Frank and Sarah's relationship starts (with him drugging and abducting her -- with the goal being to rescue her) is pretty iffy.

Parents need to know that while this graphic novel-based action comedy is rated PG-13, its violence -- which is comparable to movies like Casino Royale and The Bourne Identity (also PG-13s) definitely approaches R-rated levels of intensity. The action sequences may be accompanied by plenty of laughs, but the body count is high and the weapons military-grade. On the plus side, there's no overt sexuality, and the language is standard issue for the rating ("s--t," "bitch," "a--hole," etc.). Teens will also take away the positive message that senior citizens can still "kick butt"; it's good for kids to realize that the elderly aren't all meek and frail -- most of them had long (and in this case exciting) careers before they retired. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (17)
• Kids say (42)

Based on 17 parent reviews

A movie for old people with perverted, meaningless lives. Hugely disappointing.

An generic action/comedy movie with lots of guns and shooting, what's the story.

Retired black-ops agent Frank Moses ( Bruce Willis ) routinely calls into the government's pension office specifically to talk to customer-service rep Sarah ( Mary-Louise Parker ), who handles his account. Just as he's preparing to visit her, Frank is ambushed by a hit team -- but he goes to see her anyway, in case whoever's following him is onto her. He ends up having to tie her up to rescue her -- and then goes to his old friend/fellow agent, Joe ( Morgan Freeman ), for help. After uncovering a hit list of agents who all worked on a particularly sensitive op, Frank and Sarah enlist fellow retirees Marvin ( John Malkovich ) and Victoria ( Helen Mirren ) to join their team of RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous) agents to track down the higher-ups who've ordered the killings. Meanwhile, they must also evade ambitious CIA agent Wiliam Cooper ( Karl Urban ), who's in charge of eliminating Moses and his crew.

Is It Any Good?

Willis and the gang are clearly having a blast playing off of each other. Parker has remarkable comic timing, infusing lines like "Well I was hoping you'd have hair" (to Willis) with a style that actresses half her age can't muster. Mirren is equally as delightful, lobbing zingers like "If you hurt him, I'll kill you and bury your body in the woods" so well that you don't know whether to cringe or laugh. And when Malkovich asks, "Can I kill him now ?" it's like an impatient small child pleading for his dessert, and the resulting humor is infectious. The supporting cast does well, too. Brian Cox , one of those chameleonic actors who can play a Russian spy in Red as easily as King Lear, always adds value to an ensemble, and he doesn't disappoint. And Urban, who was Dr. McCoy in Star Trek , should be cast in action films more often. He's got a steely look and a powerful charisma that works whether he's straight-laced as in Red or bad-boy like The Bourne Supremacy . But he's the young 'un, and this movie definitely belongs to the over-55 actors, all of whom prove that with age comes a mastery of craft that, with the right script is, as Sarah would say, "awesome."

Unlike the rough-and-tumble stars of ensemble action movie The Expendable s (which Willis graced with a small cameo), all of Willis' retired secret-op friends in RED are played by Academy Award winners or nominees. That makes a huge difference in the expectation and delivery of performances. It's unthinkable that Jason Statham or Dolph Lundgren would take on Shakespearean adaptations, but within context of this movie, Malkovich, Freeman, and even Mirren are all quite believable as government operatives who've spent their careers tracking down and assassinating people. How wonderful that a movie in which the youngest actor, Urban, is 38, and the oldest, Ernest Borgnine , is 93, could be so thrilling and funny that you never once miss the busty or hunky eye-candy that usually appears in action films.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the movie's violence . Does the humor that accompanies it affect its impact? How does it compare to the violence in other action movies you've seen?

What are the movie's messages about romance, adventure, and loneliness? What do you think of the way that Frank and Sarah's relationship starts?

What major differences are there between Red and other action movies? Is it just the age of the cast?

How do the "retirees" defy stereotypes in this movie? Does it make you rethink how you treat senior citizens?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 15, 2010
• On DVD or streaming : January 25, 2011
• Cast : Bruce Willis , Helen Mirren , John Malkovich , Morgan Freeman
• Director : Robert Schwentke
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors
• Studio : Summit Entertainment
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 111 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : intense sequences of action violence and brief strong language
• Award : NAACP Image Award - NAACP Image Award Nominee
• Last updated : September 20, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last-ditch effort to survive and uncover the assailants. When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last-ditch effort to survive and uncover the assailants. When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last-ditch effort to survive and uncover the assailants.

• Robert Schwentke
• Erich Hoeber
• Warren Ellis
• Bruce Willis
• Helen Mirren
• Morgan Freeman
• 425 User reviews
• 339 Critic reviews
• 60 Metascore
• 4 wins & 19 nominations

Top cast 94

• Frank Moses

• Joe Matheson

• Woman Neighbor

• William Cooper

• Cynthia Wilkes

• Cop at Intersection

• Retirement Home Assassin

• Retirement Home Detective

• Wilkes' Secretary
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia Dame Helen Mirren had to learn how to shoot a gun without blinking so as to look more like an experienced killer. (Blinking was one of the main reasons why the stars in The Matrix trilogy wore sunglasses to mask their involuntary reactions.)
• Goofs The eagle on the doorplate of the Russian embassy has one head. The eagle on the real Russian coat of arms is two-headed.

Marvin Boggs : I never thought I'd say this again. *I am getting the pig*!

• Crazy credits Bullets, guns and explosions play out over the end credits.
• Alternate versions The version shown on TNT is edited with some content removed.
• Connections Edited into The Paul Behragam Talk Show: Balto 3 R&T Part 3 (2015)
• Soundtracks Home in Your Heart Written by Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott Performed by Solomon Burke Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp. By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User reviews 425

• Oct 25, 2010
• How long is RED? Powered by Alexa
• At the beginning, when Frank left his breakfast table, how did he know the team of assassins was in the house?
• What does the nurse tell Frank happened to Joe?
• RED 1st movie : At ~53:40, in the first scene with Sarah sat in the CIA Head Office (Langley Verginia) coffee room waiting for Frank, is that Tom Cruise sat in the back drinking a cup of coffee as a cameo?
• October 15, 2010 (United States)
• United States
• RED: Retirados Extremadamente Duros
• Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Library Scene)
• Summit Entertainment
• Di Bonaventura Pictures
• DC Entertainment
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $58,000,000 (estimated)
• $90,380,162
• $21,761,408
• Oct 17, 2010
• $199,006,387

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 51 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Surround 7.1
• Dolby Atmos

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Violence begins at 60

This would have been a hell of a cast when we were all younger. “RED” plays like a movie made for my Aunt Mary, who was always complaining, “Honey, I don’t like the pictures anymore because I don’t know who any of the actors are.” If the name Ernest Borgnine sounds familiar, here’s the movie for you.

Borgnine at 93 is still active and has a project “in development,” I learn from IMDb, even if it’s ominously titled “Death Keeps Coming.” Says here it’s a supernatural Western being produced by Tarantino. Borgnine himself is a heck of a guy. I flew out of Cartagena with him one morning with a terrible hangover, and we got stranded in some forgotten Colombian airport where he fed me aspirin crushed in milk. An actor like that is a role model.

Bruce Willis stars in “RED,” which refers to his alert level (“retired: extremely dangerous”) and not his hair. He’s a former CIA agent, a black operative, who discovers bad guys want to kill him. So he summons the members of his old killing squad, and they prepare a defense. The team includes Joe Matheson ( Morgan Freeman ), Marvin Boggs ( John Malkovich ), Victoria ( Helen Mirren ) and Ivan ( Brian Cox ).

Some notes: Victoria requires no second name because she is a woman in a thriller; Ivan is a Russian, because the Russian in every thriller is named Ivan; Malkovich may have taken the role because he is never considered for characters named Boggs, and Freeman reveals early that he is dying of liver cancer. We know that as the black member of the team he must die first, “because that’s how he would have wanted it.”

So once again poor Morgan Freeman is hung out to dry. He’d rather play the villain. As he once explained to me: “The villain is usually the most interesting character in the movie, and one thing you know is, he’ll still be around for the last scene.”

In addition to his old comrades, Bruce takes along Sarah Ross ( Mary-Louise Parker ), a telephone operator at the agency that oversees his retirement plan. He’s fallen in love with her voice. He explains she has to go on the run with him because her life is in danger. Like any federal employee, she finds this reasonable. Her life will be much safer with a man who is the target of thousands of rounds of automatic weapon fire. The villains in thrillers are such bad shots they’d suck at video games.

The bad guys are in the upper reaches of the CIA, and the conspiracy reaches all the way to a vice president with connections to a huge private defense contractor. This man is played by Richard Dreyfuss , who subtly signals to us, “You only think this is my Dick Cheney imitation, but if the studio let me loose, I could nail this role.” Are sinister Dick Cheney roles growing uncommonly frequent? Hollywood is always fearful of running out of villains and, having run through Russians, Chinese, Nazis and Mongols, seems to have fallen upon poor Cheney with relief.

“RED” is neither a good movie nor a bad one. It features actors we like doing things we wish were more interesting. I guess the movie’s moral is, these old people are still tougher than the young ones. You want tough? I’ll show you tough. In one scene, Helen Mirren is gut-shot and a blood stain spreads on her white dress. In a closing scene not a day later, she’s perfectly chipper and has had time to send the dress out to the cleaners.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Helen Mirren as Victoria
• Mary-Louise Parker as Sarah Ross
• Rebecca Pidgeon as Cynthia Wilkes
• Ernest Borgnine as Records Keeper
• James Remar as Gabriel Singer
• Morgan Freeman as Joe Matheson
• Karl Urban as William Cooper
• Brian Cox as Ivan Simanov
• Bruce Willis as Frank Moses
• John Malkovich as Marvin Boggs
• Richard Dreyfuss as Alexander Dunning

Screenplay by

• Erich Hoeber

Directed by

• Robert Schwentke

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