Red Rocket: Der Mit der Hunderute

6/10 - Simon Rex proves that he is certainly an actor capable of drama films and someone to take seriously, but as the credits abruptly began to roll, I could not help but ponder what the meaning of the film was and why I spent over 2 hours investing in it.

*Watched at Cannes 2021*

American indie-darling Sean Baker has always worked on the ground level when making his films. He often casts non-professional actors and plants his audience in the ironically unglamorous parts of America, such as the dingy Magic Castle motel located next to Walt Disney World. Baker's budgets are small, with "The Florida Project'' carrying a total cost of $2,000,000, which is roughly the amount spent to have Arnold Schwarzenegger speak one hundred words in "T2: Judgement Day." Now in 2021, Baker is back to shine a light on lower-America with "Red Rocket'', which debuted in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Opening with the catchy rhythms of NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye", former pornstar Mikey Saber has returned to the deadbeat town of Texas City. Mikey had been at the top of the porn scene for several years but eventually found his way out the door with some questionable career moves. With nowhere else to go, he begs and pleads his way into crashing with his former pornstar ex-wife Lexi, who, like him, was a shining star that has fallen back to the ground and lives with her poverty-stricken mother in the middle of nowhere.

Mikey is a guy who always has a plan, but never a way to execute it. He does have a plan to get back to Los Angeles and revitalize his career, but it requires him to reconnect with some characters from his past who hate his guts.

Both literally and metaphorically, "Red Rocket" is a ballsy movie. Baker has always found a fascination with the seedier side of America, which is the side that is often unauthentically portrayed in Hollywood (I'm looking at you "Hillbilly Elegy"). His characters are often complicated and morally ambiguous, such as Halley from "The Florida Project". But Baker doesn't wallow in their pain and use it as a ploy for sympathy (again, looking at you "Hillbilly Elegy"). Instead, he wants us to understand their desperation and see how so many people in this situation can rationalize their actions.

"Red Rocket" doesn't break from that developmental mold when it comes to his supporting characters. In Mikey's journey back to the top, he rekindles with a weed queen that sees her business as a safety net for her family. Lexi and her mother are both addicted to opiates due to her mother's medical condition and the distracting peace that the drugs bring from the painful world.

With these characters on the brink of society, Baker uses their situation to subtly explain the unforeseen popularity of Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election. Characters are often seen slumped at home in their couches with the television set to Fox News and its neverending coverage of the Republican candidate and his "mass appeal". Baker's illustration about the allure of Trump doesn't try to be a grand statement for America itself, which turns out to be a good thing as the message comes together cleaner than the hamfisted ones found in mainstream media.

But while Baker respects his supporting cast, his relationship with Mikey is more complicated. Mikey is the cinematic combination of Dirk Diggler and Howard Ratner. He's a person that you love that you hate and hate that you love. You find yourself intrinsically drawn to him because of his drive and charm. But as the film progresses and Mikey's grand plan comes closer into view, your attitude towards him starts to waver.

Much of that emotional response comes from Simon Rex's brilliant performance, whose most prominent role up until now has been a recurring supporting part in the "Scary Movie" franchise and some pornographic solo scenes in a series of straight-to-video gay porn releases. Almost as if he has lived the life of Mikey throughout stretches of his career, Rex seems to instinctively know how to play this type of sleazy charmer.

While it does contain perfect casting, "Red Rocket" is not a perfect movie as a whole. With a runtime of 124 minutes, the film contains enough material for a tighter 90-minute story. The middle hour is the victim of this bloatedness, with long stretches given for light material. Still, the overly fatty meat on this movie's bones does give Rex and the cast more than enough to chew on, resulting in an emotional rollercoaster that couldn't be replicated by bigger productions.

Slotting in nicely with Baker's filmography and that of distributor A24, "Red Rocket" is one hell of a ride from beginning to end. There may be some potholes along the way, but they're not enough to stop this film from reaching its satisfying destination.

I looked up Red Rocket on Urban Dictionary and hahaha isn't that an accurate movie title.

Man oh man Sean Baker, you are quite something. Just like Florida Project, this was a gorgeous and phenomenal movie.

Simon Rex was a force to be reckon with. There wasn't any moment where I was bored with the guy. The dialogues along with his incredible charisma propelled the pace of this movie to become exciting and a bit anxiety-filling. Even more, he made what already a great script more investing.

The cinematography again was out of this world. A poor neighborhood in Texas somehow looked like a dream world.

Again, Sean Baker used the bizarre colors, cute shapes, and isolated locations of the houses to suggest a fantastical and ambiguous interpretation of the story. I think for this part, Red Rocket had a slight edge over Florida Project because the ending in Red Rocket was smoother and made more sense.

Overall, an absolutely magnetic movie. 9.5/10.

I watched the movie because the trailer mentioned it would be about porno. Then as I watched the movie I realized; the trailer did not say it was going to be about porno it just said it was about a porn star.

It's kinda funny cause if I'm not mistaken, the movie's lead, Simon Rex had a promising career as one of the icons of an MTV generation until he got caught in a porn scandal of his own. I feel like that may have had something to do with director, Sean Baker picking Rex and I also think this had something to do with Rex being so good as Mike, a male porn star with a long career filled with many highs and glories, but fell apart really fast and with nothing to fall back on he comes back to a place he never thought he come back to because he had no choice.

As a movie, I can compare Red Rocket to a roller-coaster ride. It's a nice exciting climb all the way to the top and when it starts going down its fun, but the overall free fall is actually lackluster.

The problem here is that the movie is a character piece. This film relies heavily on Simon Rex playing Mike and our focus on who is character is, to the point that the story being told is sacrificed for it. The importance of the movie is watching Rex play this character, and in that portrait of the character we got a completed movie, but the way the story was laid out. It does not feel complete.

I do love the rawness of the film. Rex is the only actor I know by name and the fact that I know him at all as an actor ages me. It's possible that other actors in this movie did things I'm unfamiliar with but as far as I'm concern it looks like Sean Baker just used the random folks, he found in the small Texas town this movie's about.

Even if I'm a bit iffy about how the story stops short, I'm satisfied with this movie because it was an interesting story that stayed interesting from beginning to end.

Sean Baker is quickly rising to the top of my favourite directors list. His movies are so quiet and unassuming, yet they linger in my mind for days and days.

He tells stories about real people living in real America that resonate against fluffy films with forced morals and shiny stars who live in perfect houses.

Red Rocket tells the truth of a seedy character who is both charismatic (to those who are naive enough and needy enough to buy into him) and repugnant in his self-serving narcissism.

Not much happens in this film but I was not bored for a second of it. The characters are so well played and well conceived it is riveting.

Bravo Mr. Baker! Please keep making brilliant movies.