Red Rock West

One of the most under-rated films I've ever seen.
I came across Red Rock West when I downloaded the film noir episode of The Film Podcast on my way into uni earlier this week. I simply didn't get what defined the noir genre genre or style of film, and I figured their two-hour discussion about films that slotted into the category would help.
One of the presenters mentioned Red Rock West as potential entry their top five film noirs, and the discussion that followed convinced me to go out and find it.
I'm glad I did.
The 1993 film stars a 30-year-old Nicholas Cage as lead character Michael Williams. Williams is a former marine-turned-drifter, whose planned employment at an oilfield falls through because he doesn't disclose an injury.
Williams wanders into Red Rock in search of work and slips into a bar, where he meets owner Wayne Brown (J.T. Walsh). Walsh mistakes Williams for a "Lyle from Dallas", who Walsh has hired to kill his wife Suzanne (Lara Flynn Boyle).
The story takes further twists when the real Lyle shows up (Dallas Hopper), and when Suzanne offers Williams a counter-offer to Walsh's original hit.
It has all the ingredients for a ripper film (which it definitely is) shot similar to those during the classic film noir period in the 1840s and '50s. The mistaken identity, the "femme fatale" (though this particular female lead is a minor exception to the rule), and the extensive use of shadowing are all some of Red Rock West's characteristics associated with that style of film.
I have never really been much of a Cage fan, and have only really enjoyed him in Con Air and Gone in 60 Seconds.
I can now add Red Rock West to that list.
Cage shows a side I have either never noticed in other films I have seen (National Treasure isn't the greatest measuring stick). Hopper is believably intimidating as Lyle, while Walsh's Brown is as conniving as you'd expect a sheriff who runs the town's major watering hole to be.
Lara Flynn Boyle deserves recognition for her Suzanne Brown as well. We watch her evolve on the outside for most of the film, while her greedy and perhaps criminal internal dialogue maintains its course.
An enthralling and entertaining film, Red Rock West is a gem many have yet to discover.

Red Rock West (1993): 97 minutes