Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich in “RED.”
NEW YORK – it is a rare sight in Hollywood, the City of Eternal Youth, to see a film in which the average age of the actors is about 65. especially when it’s an action movie, as is the case with RED. However, with stars including Willis, Mirren, Malkovich, Dreyfus and Morgan, the new flick may be the exception to the rule.
“Did the cast impress you?” Morgan Freeman, 73, asks the group of journalists. “Me too.”
The casting for RED (Retired and Extremely Dangerous) is similar to that of Ocean’s Eleven, or more recently, The Expendables. Summit Entertainment succeeded in assembling a group big-name actors for the action-comedy: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Karl Urban, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss and, of course, Ernest Borgnine, who continues to work every day, even at 93.
The group plays retired CIA agents, but for this group of seasoned actors, there is no question of shutting it down.
“You’re asking me if I make it to my nineties and no longer get work, what would I do?” asked Freeman, whose left hand is still paralyzed following a serious car accident in Mississippi in August 2008. “See I’m like George Burns, I expect to be working until my late nineties because anyways, they will figure out a way to use me even just as a corpse. The people who look forward to their retirement are not nearly enjoying their lives as much as I enjoy mine.”
“I’ve never really thought about it as work,” said Willis, who just came off a shoot in Spain and was clearly still suffering from jet lag. “I still don’t see it as work. Aging is what we are all doing so start living it up right now.
And John Malkovich: Do you see me playing golf, really?”
RED, which was adapted from the comic series of the same name (DC Comics, 2003), reflects on the lives of the older characters, who were forced to retire and then forgotten about, even after risking their lives for their work. it is also a comparison to new-generation CIA agents, who are more dependent on technology than their predecessors. In the words of Freeman: “It’s a good Bruce Willis shoot’em up.”
The story follows Frank Moses (Willis), a former secret agent living peacefully following an illustrious career. He falls in love over the phone with a government public servant, Sarah (Parker), and he rips up his pension cheque every month as an excuse to talk to her.
The role was a great fit for Willis, who even looks just like his character in the comic. In one scene, Parker even says, “I was hoping you had hair.”
Moses’ peaceful retirement goes up in smoke when someone tries to kill him at home. Because he is under surveillance, Sarah’s safety is also in jeopardy, prompting him to kidnap her. He then re-assembles his old team to figure out why he is being targeted.
We then meet them all: Joe (Freeman), confined to a retirement home; Marvin (Malkovich), who has become paranoid after having been given a daily dose of LSD by the agency for 11 years; an old Russian spy (Cox), and Victoria (Mirren), a weapons expert that now manages a bed and breakfast.
The group’s adventure leads them to invade the head offices of the CIA, discovering the vice-president’s involvement in a scandal in the process. Here, the movie seems to be alluding to the Bush administration. Director Robert Schwentke (Flightplan and The Time Traveler’s Wife) and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Matrix, Ocean’s Eleven, Harry Potter) didn’t try to keep the latter a secret, saying “it was clear from the beginning that Richard Dreyfuss wanted to channel Dick Cheney.”
Mirren is probably the biggest surprise amongst the cast. we see her fire .50-calibre rifles in a black dress and high heels.
“The most difficult thing for me was to not stick my tongue out while shooting my guns,” she said, admitting that she drew inspiration for her character from Martha Stewart.
“It’s always great when you can find someone that you can pin your character on, then this flash of illumination came to my mind,” Mirren added, admitting that she kept a photo of Stewart nearby during filming. “I based everything on Martha Stewart, the hair, the clothes”
bruce willis, george burns, helen mirren, john malkovich, karl urban, rare sight
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