No chases, no guns, no special effects - just an exciting movie : Red Road

"Red Road," a Glasgow-set picture from ca 2006 (by Andrea Arnold?) is taut and grim and graphic and very much accomplishes its ends of holding our attention from the first mysterious frame - protagonist Jackie watching multiple screens of video surveillance as part of a police/security anti-terrorism system pervasive in Britain - and hitting us with various twists and surprises along the way, building to a bang-up conclusion that challenges our assumptions. Actress playing Jackie is in virtually every scene, and she's really strong and courageous, especially in the extremely graphic sex scene near the conclusion. Movie not for everyone - the grimness of Glasgow in this and other pictures, e.g., Trainspotting, is a well-known off-putter - but Red Road is much more tense and realistic and vivid than any number of crappy crime dramas and thrillers that rely on car chases and shootouts. This one done with no special effects, nothing high speed, no guns or weapons of any kind. Basic plot line is that Jackie, through her surveillance, spots the man now out of prison who killed her husband and child, and she sets off to exact revenge. Here come the spoilers, so stop here if you might see the film: The only downside to Red Road is that it's practically impossible to believe that Jackie or anyone short of psychopath (which she is not) would embark on a revenge plot that involves having sex with the target and then charging him with rape. Also we do feel a bit manipulated by the film, in that we are strongly led to believe that the target was a "killer" out of jail, when in fact he turns out to be a former drunken driver, now trying (not very effectively) to reform - film wants to have too many things both ways. Those quibbles aside, though, it's a really intelligent film, shot with great economy and using real Glasgow street locations, and stands up very well alongside the many much-better-known dark American indie films of recent years.