Red Corner

Starring: Richard Gere, Bai Ling, Bradley Whitford, Byron Mann, Peter Donat, Robert Stanton, Tsai Chin, James Hong, Tzi Moa, Ken Leung
Directed by: Jon Avnet
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
1997

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An American businessman (Richard Gere) is imprisoned for murder in China, despite his proclamation of innocence and some troubling facts about the crime scene. A Chinese defense lawyer (Bai Ling) fights against the Chinese legal system to free him.

Review:

Tim: What's most noteworthy about Jon Avnet's Red Corner is how bland it is. It's a story about an American who is (probably) falsely accused of murder and imprisoned in China. It gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the Chinese "justice" system. This should have been a compelling, thrilling film. Outside of a few solid scenes, the movie falls flat. It's never bad, but it doesn't even remotely live up to its promise.

One of the problems is that for a 2+ hour movie, it's just not nearly compelling enough. We care about Richard Gere's character because he's Richard Gere, not from anything to do with the script. The supporting cast is decent, but exist on the periphery of the movie. There's so many scenes that drag on just a little too long. It's not one big thing that sinks the movie, but many, many small ones. I wouldn't say I ever hated the movie, but it lasts too long and the payoff doesn't make up for it.

Gere is good in the role, which is perhaps the best thing about the movie. It was fun seeing him in this role. It isn't the most memorable, but he plays it well. He has a good partner in Bai Ling. I know she'd had more than her share of personal challenges, but she gives a strong performance here. It was a good partnership between them. I always like seeing Bradley Whitford, but his role was too small and unmemorable to really matter. The rest of the cast was fine. As a whole, this movie really is focused on Gere and Ling.

The movie kind of totters between Chinese prison scenes (which aren't as thrilling as they should have been), courtroom scenes, and a bunch of in-between. Some of the movie's explanations for things don't quite make sense. Maybe they're all logical and the problem is how they were explained, but (for example), Gere spends a decent amount of time out of the Chinese prison for someone accused of a brutal murder. Now, this does allow him to meet Ling's grandmother (or whomever she was), but it doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the plot.

Perhaps the standout sequence of the film (SPOILER ALERT) is Gere's escape attempt. It's a well-shot, thrilling scene. It's the best action scene of the film and it was wildly entertaining. Avnet creates a really great sequence that's a lot to fun. Gere running on rooftops, being pursued by Chinese police- it was a blast. The problem is that it's only one sequence. The rest of the movie doesn't live up to it.

Speaking of disappointments, the film's conclusion doesn't work. The climax was simply mishandled. It would never have worked out like this- the whole thing feels forced and far too convenient. It feels like a Hollywood handling of events, which drains the realism right out of it. I didn't buy the conclusion, and therefore, the movie ends with this unsatisfying, lingering feeling. The bulk of the movie kind of slides off you anyway, so you end up with a film that's quite unmemorable. As another example, it's entirely possible I saw this movie in the late 1990s. When watching it this time, though, I couldn't get past a very, very vague recollection, so I've counted this view as my only one. It's been a few decades, but I can remember nearly all the movies I've seen over that period. This one is just especially easy to forget.

Red Corner isn't a bad movie, but it's a bit of a chore to get through. I'm somewhat glad I watched it, but I won't ever sit down with it again. Avnet's film simply isn't good enough.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The War, Primal Fear, The Jackal