"Behind The Red Door" is a film I picked up for two reasons: there was nothing else in, and Kiefer Sutherland, in my opinion, is the greatest under-rated actor today. The film starts off slowly, and doesn't really pick up. Natalie (Kyra Sedgwick) plays Kiefer's estranged sister. In fact, the two haven't seen each other in ten years. They are brought together due to Roy's (Kiefer Sutherland) sickness. The sickness isn't mentioned in the film, but because Roy is homosexual, we are brought to the conclusion that it is probably AIDS. Roy asks (or, rather demands) that Natalie be his nurse, as he does not want to die surrounded by strangers. To make things slightly more complicated, Natalie is starting to remember long-lost memories from her past about the death of her mother, and her abusive father, whom she believes killed her.
Fans of the adrenaline-pumped drama "24" will be amazed at the acting skills of Kiefer. In "24", he plays an Anti-Terrorist Agent with a short temper, but in "Behind The Red Door", he plays an obvious homosexual, and the performance is BELIEVABLE. There are some scenes that might bring a tear or two to your eye, the most notable being a close up of Roy when he starts to cry. "Behind The Red Door" wasn't the greatest film, the director wasn't very good, the editing was terrible, and the soundtrack sometimes didn't suit the mood of the film, but Kiefer's Oscar-worthy performance (if this film was directed by a well-known director, and was publicly well-known at the time of release, Kiefer would've been nominated) saves the film. You start to care about Roy, you feel that he's an actual person, and you feel deep sympathy for him. If you're going to pick this film up for anything, let it be Sutherland's performance. Otherwise, pick something else up.
Fans of the adrenaline-pumped drama "24" will be amazed at the acting skills of Kiefer. In "24", he plays an Anti-Terrorist Agent with a short temper, but in "Behind The Red Door", he plays an obvious homosexual, and the performance is BELIEVABLE. There are some scenes that might bring a tear or two to your eye, the most notable being a close up of Roy when he starts to cry. "Behind The Red Door" wasn't the greatest film, the director wasn't very good, the editing was terrible, and the soundtrack sometimes didn't suit the mood of the film, but Kiefer's Oscar-worthy performance (if this film was directed by a well-known director, and was publicly well-known at the time of release, Kiefer would've been nominated) saves the film. You start to care about Roy, you feel that he's an actual person, and you feel deep sympathy for him. If you're going to pick this film up for anything, let it be Sutherland's performance. Otherwise, pick something else up.