When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money, and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Michael Williams: Nicolas Cage
• Lyle from Dallas: Dennis Hopper
• Suzanne Brown: Lara Flynn Boyle
• Wayne Brown: J.T. Walsh
• Deputy Matt Greytack: Timothy Carhart
• Deputy Russ Bowman: Dan Shor
• Truck Driver: Dwight Yoakam
• Jim: Craig Reay
• Mr. Johnson: Vance Johnson
• Howard: Robert Apel
• Old Man: Bobby Joe McFadden
• Kurt: Dale Gibson
• Cashier: Ted Parks
• Receptionist: Babs Bram
• Doctor: Robert Guajardo
• Nurse: Sarah Sullivan
• Red Rock Bartender: Michael Ruud
• Truck Driver’s Buddy: Peter Kevin Quinn
• Country Girl Bartender: Jeff Levine
• Ted: Shawn Michael Ryan
• Jane: Barbara Glover
• Caretaker: Robert Beecher
• Caretaker’s Wife: Jody Carter

Film Crew:

• Screenplay: John Dahl
• Associate Producer: Rick Dahl
• Producer: Steve Golin
• Executive Producer: Michael Kuhn
• Executive Producer: Jane McGann
• Producer: Sigurjón Sighvatsson
• Original Music Composer: William Olvis
• Director of Photography: Marc Reshovsky
• Editor: Scott Chestnut
• Art Direction: Don Diers
• Set Decoration: Kate J. Sullivan
• Casting: Carol Lewis
• Costume Design: Terry Dresbach
• Executive In Charge Of Production: Tim Clawson
• Associate Producer: Lynn Weimer
• Production Design: Robert Pearson
• Supervising Producer: Aron Warner
• Production Manager: Philip Rose
• First Assistant Director: Mike Topoozian
• Second Assistant Director: Michael McCue
• Post Production Supervisor: Vincent Landay
• Script Supervisor: Nancy Karlin
• Production Coordinator: Larry Shapiro
• Production Coordinator: Beth DePatie
• Assistant Production Coordinator: Jeff Caulfield
• First Assistant Camera: Karl Owens
• Camera Loader: Jon Massey
• Still Photographer: Suzanne Tenner
• Sound Mixer: Mark Weingarten
• Boom Operator: Yehuda Maayan
• Gaffer: Stephen Rocha
• Best Boy Electric: Robert Eyslee
• Electrician: Dana Arnold
• Electrician: Fred Gibson
• Electrician: Michael E. Gips
• Electrician: Raymond Gonzales
• Electrician: Peter Pearce
• Electrician: Gary W. Shaw
• Key Grip: Mark Shane Davis
• Dolly Grip: Levon Besnelian
• Additional Photography: Rohn Schmidt
• Property Master: Jonathan R. Hodges
• Hairstylist: Fríða Aradóttir
• Makeup Artist: Patty York
• Costume Supervisor: Lori Eskowitz
• Special Effects Coordinator: Frank Ceglia
• Special Effects: Mark R. Byers
• Special Effects Makeup Artist: John Carl Buechler
• Sculptor: Dean Gates
• Stunt Coordinator: Dan Bradley
• Stunts: Rick Barker
• Stunts: Charlie Carpenter
• Stunts: Scott Alan Cook
• Stunts: Dale Gibson
• Stunts: Don Ruffin
• Stunts: Keith Campbell

Movie Reviews:

• Steve: A bit dated looking at it over 20 years later, but still entertaining. A slick neo-noir that helped revive the genre.
• John Chard: All Roads Lead To Intrigue.
• Red Rock West is directed by John Dahl who also co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Rick. It stars Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle, J. T. Walsh and Timothy Carhart. Music is by William Olvis and cinematography by Marc Reshovsky.
• When a promised job in Wyoming fails to materialise on account of an injury sustained in combat, Michael Williams (Cage) drifts into the town of Red Rock and is mistaken in a bar for a hit-man hired to kill an unfaithful wife. Tempted by the high cash on offer, Michael plays along and promptly finds himself in a web of intrigue from which escape is looking unlikely
• Welcome To Red Rock/You Are Now Leaving Red Rock.
• The studio didn’t know what to do with it, a neo-noir flavoured with contemporary Western spices. Put out on cable in America and thriving on its limited release in Europe, it started to gain a cult fan-base. More so after a theatre in the Frisco Bay area started showing it and it made considerable coinage. Today it still remains more of a cult piece than anything else, which while it deserves more accolades and exposure, is still kind of nice for the fans, because it’s like we have our own little neo-noir treasure all to ourselves.
• Red Rock West is essential for the neo-noir heads and well worthy of inspection by the average modern day crime film fan. Plot wise it’s a bit, shall we say iffy? Yet the twists, turns and characterisations are so deftly constructed and performed, it matters not a jot. Cage’s ex- marine is an honest and decent guy who whilst down on his luck – punished for his honesty – finds himself in a vortex of mystery and murder that he can’t escape from. His companions in this scenario are film noir staples, the femme fatale (Boyle) with a smoulder as big as her secret, the hit-man (Hopper) with a glint in his eye to accompany his callous leanings, and the shifty bar owner (Walsh) trying to off his wife whilst keeping his shady cards close to his chest.
• As the tricksy plot unfolds in a haze of bad judgements and untruths, further pulsed by the vagaries of fate, it becomes apparent that Dahl wants us to know it isn’t taking itself too seriously. There’s a glorious scent of dark humour hanging in the air, an unpretentiousness about the whole thing that’s refreshing. The look and feel is perfect for the narrative, the colour is stripped back to create a moody atmospheric surround, while the score and sound-tracking immediately brings to mind country and western tales of woe. Dahl knows his noir onions, but this is not just a homage hat tipper to the past, he understands what works in noir, be it the blending of the quirky with the edgy, or scene setting in locales such as a colourless bar and a foggy cemetery, Dahl gets the key ingredients right to deliver the goods wholesale.
• The small cast come up trumps. Boyle as Suzanne Brown is weak if her femme fatale is pitted against the likes of Matty Walker or Bridget Gregory, but it’s an adequate performance that doesn’t hinder the picture. She is helped enormously, though, by having to share most scenes with Cage who brings his “A” game. Consistently inconsistent throughout his career, Cage, when on form is a joy to watch, here he gets to thrive as a put upon hero, shifting seamlessly between confusion and boldness, where incredulous looks are the order of the day with a side order of eccentric intensity. Hopper does what he does so well, amusing villainy, while Walsh is effortlessly menacing and suspicious. In small secondary support Carhart and country star Dwight Yoakam leave favourable impressions.
• This is not an edge of your seat thriller, or a cranium bothering piece of dramedy, it’s neo-noir done right. Where morality is grey at best and money is the root of all evil, it’s slick, playful, cold blooded and absorbing. Hooray! 9/10