Red Rock West

Director: John Dahl

1993 / 98min / DCP

A standout entry in the early ’90s neo-noir boom, Stahl’s taut, twisty, awfully nasty thriller stars an unusually and effectively laconic Cage as a discharged marine who wanders into Red Rock, Wyoming, looking for a job and instead finds himself caught up in the dirty dealings of sleazy bar owner J.T. Walsh, his seductive and conniving wife Lara Flynn Boyle, and “Lyle, from Dallas” (Dennis Hopper), a superficially genial hired killer with plenty of experience in his field. “A diabolical movie that exists sneakily between a western and a thriller, between a film noir and a black comedy… It’s the kind of movie made by people who love movies.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times