RED

RYAN: Loosely based on a popular comic book, the new movie Red features a veritable smorgasbord of old actors.

CAROLINE: It’s a great cast – Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich, the last of whom is also in Secretariat, which came out last week.

RYAN: I’m sorry, but he might be one of the ugliest men in Hollywood.

CAROLINE: Really? I don’t think so. You’ve got people like Harvey Weinstein lurking around Hollywood. John M. is a babe next to him.

RYAN: Mary-Louise Parker is the only star under 50 in the movie, and she’s just adorable. I wish she was making more movies.

CAROLINE: This is a pretty big role for her. I’m a little surprised at the casting choice, but she did a good job. She’s totally cute and aging very well.

RYAN: Overall, the movie is pretty fun, but not brilliant. One thing that almost ruined the movie for me was the score. It was so cheesy and dated and almost ’80s sounding like Beverly Hills Cop or something.

CAROLINE: I found the whole movie kind of mediocre. I’m not sure why it’s coming out during Oscar season; it seems more like a February or March release. I think I might have enjoyed more if it weren’t coming out against all the high quality movies out now like The Town.

RYAN: It’s certainly not an Oscar caliber film, but it was entertaining. Bruce Willis still has it. He had a couple of great action moments like that slo-mo exit from the car when it was spinning around. And I was just so delighted every time I saw Helen Mirren with a gun.

CAROLINE: There were a few good scenes, but I only enjoyed about 30% of the movie. It started off decently and then just flagged completely and I lost interest. I even almost dozed a couple of times, and I haven’t done that in a long time.

RYAN: It’s not too long though. The length felt appropriate at just shy of two hours. And I liked the animated postcard transitions. They and the tone of this film reminded me of the Charlie’s Angels movies.

CAROLINE: I guess I just expected a little more from this cast. It was kind of cheesy overall. Maybe it was the script. I did like the love story between Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker though.

RYAN: Honestly, this is more of a boy movie, so I’m not shocked you didn’t love it. It’s not your cup of tea. Which isn’t to say I loved it either. I just liked it more than you.

— BOTTOM LINE —

CAROLINE: This movie bored me. I didn’t hate every minute, because it does have a few great action moments, but I really got tired of it after about 30 minutes. Just because it has an Oscar caliber cast doesn’t mean it should come out during Oscar contention time. I went in expecting not to love it so maybe that clouded my judgment a little.

RYAN: You cannot judge a movie based on its release date though. Just because it’s released at this time doesn’t mean it’s obligated to be an Oscar movie. I was thoroughly entertained, as was m’pal Jimmy who joined us. It is cheesy at moments and the music sucks, but it’s a cute, clever movie that surprised me a bit. Dudes will dig it.

— RATING —