I loved it at the time, and it remains a great film - carefully put together, a great opening - no dialogue, western vistas, a slow moving guitar beat, a beat-up guy (Nicolas Cage) in a beat-up car looking for an honest day's work as a roughneck. But a bum knee gets in the way. Now what?
Getting his last $5 dollars worth of gas, he heads for Red Rock to look for work. Pulling in by a bar, he steps in for a cup of coffee ... waited upon by J. T. Walsh who mistakes Cage and his Texas license plate, for the gunman he hired to off his wife. Cage, not knowing what's up, plays along with the game, hoping for some bucks, but with no intention of doing the crime.
But the real hired gun shows up - none other than Dennis Hopper in one of his fine, quirky, roles.
Once enmeshed, there's no getting out of Red Rock, try as Cage does. Through a series of mishaps, every effort to leave brings him right back to town, and to the woman he's supposed to kill (Lara Flynn Boyle).
Directed by John Dahl, this dark piece tells quite a story with plenty of twists and turns. In the end, oh well, if you haven't seen it, I won't tell in detail, but Cage finally makes his escape, bloodied and battered, with his integrity intact and a few extra bucks.
The sound track remains simple - mostly a slow guitar as the plot spirals and thickens; dark music behind other scenes.
Great acting, filming - one of my favorites!
