Red Letters (2000)

Professor Dennis Burke (Peter Coyote) wrote a sizzling erotic novel called Red Letters 20 years ago--but since then, his wife died from a protracted illness, and he's been fired from a job because of an affair with a student. So he's grateful to be given a second chance at a small California college where he lectures on Hawthorne... only all his students are more interested in Burke's writing than Hawthorne's. Burke starts receiving letters for the former resident of his apartment, letters that are from a woman in prison named Lydia (Nastassja Kinski of Your Friends and Neighbors) with a 30-year sentence for murder. Burke writes back, and their correspondence takes a turn for the intimate when she asks him to visit her. Burke isn't sure what he's getting into, and his life is only further complicated when the daughter of the college dean (Fairuza Balk, The Craft) starts making advances. Suddenly Lydia has escaped, his best friend (Jeremy Piven, Very Bad Things) is arrested for hacking into the prison computer system, and the dean suspects Burke of trifling with his daughter. Red Letters has all the makings of a classic Hitchcock film: a hapless hero who thinks he's smarter than he is, an unpredictable femme fatale, snaky plot twists, and an all-around excellent cast (also including Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters and Udo Kier from My Own Private Idaho and The Kingdom). The movie loses focus at the very end, but until then it's a smart, well-written, subtle, and unpredictable film that actually gives its characters some depth and grit. Even the more implausible moments are fun and engaging. Well worth checking out. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

what a great cast

this movie sizzles with its great cast that spark and snap this thrilling, well thriller. Peter Coyote(Sphere) is a writer, Nastassja Kinski(Cold Heart, One Night Stand, Little Boy Blue and Cat People) is the one he writes to in prison and she meets him. Jeremy Piven(PCU, Judgment Night) is Coyotes friend, and Fairuza Balk(The Craft, The Island Of Dr. Moreau) is the girl infatuated with Coyote. the cast is great, no doubt, especially Piven(who is always great). you also got supporting cast members like Udo Kier(Blade, Barb Wire), Ernie Hudson(The Substitute, No Escape and Pauly Shore(In The Army Now, Son In Law). hang on October 30, 2003

Highly Underated

I started watching this movie with the assumpton that it was going to be very bad and not a good movie at all as I had heard from numerous other reviews and posts, etc. But I actually highly enjoyed this movie. It does have it's faults, yes, but still it is an entertaining movie to me and I think it could be to others too, if they would give it a chance. It does have a very low budget feel to it (not the faul of the director, Bradley Battersby, the music was changed without his permission and he was given only twenty days to shoot it or he would be fired) but these are all the fault of the producers who basically made everything that is cheesy about it that way. I have heard what the original plan for the movie was and that plan was very unique, but as mentioned above, it was not to be this way through not fault of anybody's except the producers. But again, a highy enjoyable movie with wonderful performances by Natassja Kinski and Peter Coyote (though he hams things up way too much). Good for a light laugh and some enjoyability. November 12, 2002

Mostly a waste of talent

Unfotunately, the talents of the cast are ill used. The story trys to be clever and sexually titallating, but mostly is just silly. The characters never seem real and the story less so. I am a big fan of both Ms. Kinski and Balk and wasting their talents in this tawdry thriller was very disappointing. March 11, 2001

worth watching for one scene

the lenghty editorial review is accurate and recommends the film....I would agreee and add that there is a particular scene which is unusual....it involves a police line up with a witness and police on one side of the 1-way glass and the suspects on the other...I won't divulge what happens, but the film is worth seeing just for this surprise. February 6, 2001

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