Back then it was fairly well known that Rodriguez's first movie, 'El Mariachi' in 1992, when he was only 24. I will not repeat that he made it for only $7000. In today's money that would be almost $15,000, still a small amount for a feature film, and a very good one at that. I really like 'El Mariachi.'
This movie, "Red 11", might be based on how he earned that $7000, I'm not sure. He enters a medical test group sorted by colors of the shirt they are assigned, his is red and he is number 11. He is "Red 11". But as this fictional story unfolds things get stranger and stranger. Too strange often.
I considered abandoning this, free on streaming, at about the half-way point but persisted because in general I really like some of his movies. Spy Kids and Sin City are a couple. But as he has gotten older his movies have gotten stranger, like Machete (which I rate '4') and a few others.
I can't rate 'Red 11' very highly, it just isn't that good a story even though there is a 'twist' reveal at the end. I found myself thinking "so what?" A nice experiment and perhaps really good to illustrate some film school film-making points, but for the general audience I'd have a hard time recommending it to anyone I know.
