Red Corner (1997)

reviewed by
James Berardinelli


RED CORNER
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING: * OUT OF ****

United States, 1997 U.S. Release Date: 10/31/97 (wide) Running Length: 2:04 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, nudity, sex, mild profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Cast: Richard Gere, Bai Ling, Bradley Whitford, Byron Mann
Director: Jon Avnet
Producers: Jon Avnet and Jordan Kerner
Screenplay: Robert King, Ron Koslow
Cinematography: Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Music: Thomas Newman
U.S. Distributor: MGM

The relentless preachiness engaged in by RED CORNER is the sort of approach that makes fire-and-brimstone sermons seem subtle. If this was the film's only weakness, it might be forgivable, but director Jon Avnet's latest effort is an all-around stinker. Pull almost any word out of a negative pool of adjectives and you'll have an accurate description of RED CORNER: dumb, boring, painful, laughable, idiotic, moronic, inane, bad, etc. Occasional scenes are almost salvaged by the effective performance of little-known actress Bai Ling, but, ultimately, her solid portrayal of a Chinese defense attorney gets lost amidst so much tripe. RED CORNER is easily one of the year's worst big-budget motion pictures.

Red China is apparently very upset with Richard Gere. Not only is he an outspoken supporter of the exiled Dalai Lama, but, to add insult to injury, he has now starred in a movie that is openly critical of the Chinese legal system. American movie-goers suckered into seeing RED CORNER should be equally outraged. Gere's lackluster performance is one of the reasons why the film is close to unwatchable. He vacillates between scenery-chewing and wooden displays that would make Steven Seagal proud, and his delivery of Robert King and Ron Koslow's ripe dialogue is often so overwrought that it's impossible to stifle a snicker. Truthfully, the Chinese have little to worry about -- no one could possibly take this film seriously.

Gere plays American businessman Jack Moore, who's in Beijing to wrap up a major deal with China's Ministry of Radio, Film, and Television. Moore's American-based company is offering a slate of "pornographic, violent, and superstitious" Western fare, and, thanks to the support of the progressive-minded son (Byron Mann) of the Minister, they have the inside track. Then, one night, Moore brings a Chinese girl back to his hotel room for some champagne and sex. He is rudely awakened the next morning by Chinese police officers, who show him her dead body, point out that his clothes are soaked in her blood, then cart him off to prison. Worse still, it turns out that the dead girl is the daughter of a high-ranking Red Army general. Since American lawyers are not permitted to practice in China, Moore is forced to make due with Yuelin (Bai Ling), his court-appointed attorney. Her advice: plead guilty, since the legal code reads "leniency for those who confess; severity for those who resist." But, despite being mistreated by his jailers and ignored by the American embassy, Moore is determined to prove his innocence.

In the past, with movies like FRIED GREEN TOMATOES, director Jon Avnet has successfully navigated the tricky line between drama and manipulation. Here, he fails utterly. There isn't a dramatic moment in RED CORNER that rings true -- not Moore's sad family history, his "courageous" moral stance in defense of Yuelin, nor the predictably over-the-top climactic court sequences. For good measure, there's also one of the silliest foot chases in recent memory, with a handcuffed Moore leaping from rooftop to rooftop while half the Beijing police force inexplicably fails to catch up to him.

The heroes in RED CORNER are few and far between. Aside from the lone good American (Moore) and the one good Chinese citizen (Yuelin), it's hard to find someone who isn't duplicitous, self-serving, or downright evil. Cartoon characterizations abound, and it isn't just the Chinese who suffer; every Westerner in RED CORNER has hidden motives, and no one except Yuelin is willing to risk their neck or career to stand up for an innocent man.

From time-to-time, RED CORNER falls into the "so bad it's enjoyable" category, but the movie is much too long to be more than fitfully engaging for connoisseurs of awful films. Those hoping for an intelligent expose of the Chinese legal system will likewise be disappointed -- the movie's political agenda is obvious, but not effectively presented. This is yet another example of the white outsider struggling against oppression and injustice (Avnet has already used this approach once, in 1992's THE POWER OF ONE). Maybe somewhere, buried deep under layers of dross, there's the kernel of an interesting story in RED CORNER. But what reaches the screen is so irredeemable that it deserves to be consigned to the darkest, most obscure shelves of the local video store.

Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
- James Berardinelli
e-mail: berardin@mail.cybernex.net

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