Red Team (1999)

Director:

Jeremy Haft

Writer:

Alex Metcalf (writer)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Who's killing the serial killers?

Plot Keywords:

Treachery | Policewoman | Forensic Science | Justice | Serial Killer

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Patrick Muldoon	...	Jason Chandler
Cathy Moriarty	...	Stephanie Dobson
Tim Thomerson	...	William Heywood
Fred Ward	...	Retired FBI agent
C. Thomas Howell	...	J.B. Gaines
David Brown	...	Warshofsky (as Dave Brown)
David Millbern	...	Reed
David Beecroft	...	Garcia
Lee J. Campbell	...	Arthur Reeves
James Durham	...	Walter Ringler
Deb Patterson	...	Patty
Arne MacPherson	...	Freddy Whiteside
Stan Lesk	...	Wild Eyes
Carlee Michelle Benoit	...	Dead Woman #1
Jeff McCredie	...	State Police Officer #1

Also Known As:

The Crimson Code (USA) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

UK:90 min (video version)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Company:

John Aaron Productions

A not bad idea sunk by gun jumping

They weren't ready to make this movie when they filmed it. It so much reminded me of a great idea in the midst of thinking it through, like a rough draft of a novel with all the flaws glaring and ready to be fixed. But they filmed it anyway, unrepaired. There wasn't a single surprize, which this kind of movie demands, but they were so close to delivering one with an adjustment here and there. Patrick Muldoon was not the actor to take this lead. We can't buy him as the hero, he just doesn't convince us he's who he's supposed to be. We get faces and expressions and action filmed from an impossible to participate angle. The idea of a serial killer taking out serial killers is an exciting premise with much promise but the writer's couldn't deliver, or whoever was responsible for the final product, the exceptional film this idea deserved. This is a notion that should slip in there with the Silence of the Lambs. We should squirm and fear the scene that comes next. We shouldn't see the G rated climax coming from a mile away, or the plot twists so far in advance we don't mind going to the fridge while they unfold. Fred Ward, who can be a lot of fun, was horribly miscast. This was a really great idea hurried into production and what could have been a riveting thriller fails to make us twitch. I hope they take this idea and run with it again, with more octane. It's rock solid idea. Rock solid ideas shouldn't go limp.