Red Rocket review by Bobby Blakey
Every year there are films that come seemingly out of nowhere that on the surface don’t seem like much that end up not only surprising, but becoming an award contender. The latest Red Rocket starring Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Suzanna Son, Brenda Deiss, and Ethan Darbone from The Florida Project and Tangerine director Sean Baker has the buzz as one of those films. Could it actually deliver that something special or will it fail to get the money shot?
Red Rocket follows ex porn star Mikey Saber decides to crawl back to his hometown of Texas City, Texas, where his estranged wife and mother-in-law are living after finding himself down and out in Los Angeles. Just as this dysfunctional family seems to be making things work, Mikey meets a young woman named Strawberry working the cash register at a local doughnut shop. He falls right back into his old habits.
Simon Rex is one of those actors most known for comedies like the Scary Movie series, Halloweed and so much more. That’s not to say he has never done dramatic, but its just not what I think of when he is involved which is why I enjoyed this movie so much more. His performance here is chaotic much like everyone else in this town filled with nuance, heart, sadness and inner lies of his own failures.
This is simple story of a man who had it all and despite losing it still hold son to his legend as a delusion of his former self. This sets of a series of chaotic ramblings throughout whether it be from the mult-people arguments and spouting his own successes. Simon Rex is on fire in this movie in the best way possible. There is little to nothing redeemable about his character, but still fun to watch. While there is a creepy element by design it makes you
constantly wonder how much of what he talks about is crap and how much is truth.
The supporting cast are great in a real life kind of way. There are a lot of them that don’t seem like they are real actors and would normally be chocked up to a bad performance, but here they just seem like real people and it works. This is a dirty world that was kind of like Napoleon Dynamite, but infused with poor and often times drug addicted people that are all dysfunctional.
This is the kind of movie that brings a real life approach to the chaos of life and is sadly too real on a lot of levels. It might not connect with some people due to the chaotic nature of it all, the real life elements or the truthfully nowhere to go plot that for me just delivered. It almost feels like some important elements were rushed through and it kind of just ends with no real resolution, but I think it also served as a metaphor to this guy’s dead end life and his hope hinging on his own self indulging love of himself and what he wants.
In addition to the film this feature offers up bonus content including commentary and making of featurette. Grab your copy of Red Rocket available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.