Red Rocket - 2021
To be completely honest, I watched the entirety of Red Rocket with a growing sense of disgust. No, that's not even the word for it. Disdain is closer; revulsion may be most apropos. After about 90 minutes, I was not really sure that I'd be able to get on board with either of the critical threads praising Sean Baker's deft direction or Simon Rex's all-in performance. To put it simply, the dude was just so detestable. But, as the saying goes, things change.
I've never been a proponent of the "you have to love the protagonist to love the picture" view of criticism. It's, quite frankly, shortsighted and misses so much of what makes the best art transcendent. In a word - brokenness. Moreover, it's not like Sean Baker is new at this kind of thing. In fact, Red Rocket is the last in a triumvirate (thus far) of pictures which explore the rough and tumble, the down and out lives of marginalized, little-seen people, many of whom turn to some kind of work in the sex industry to make ends meet.
The Florida Project, the second such picture, was a dreamboat for yours truly. I adored its gritty, urban cinematography juxtaposed against the flashy glamor of Disney World. What I thought made it work so convincingly, however, was how Baker smartly chose to anchor his story in the children's perspectives. We could relate to them. We rooted for them to climb out of this abyss. Though I didn't automatically dismiss this picture for its uncouthness, I couldn't help but begrudge the director a bit for ever having me invested in this dirt nasty (to use a name) piece of trash in the first place.
Let me be clear, there IS whole piles of uncouthness here. As in pictures past, Baker has utilized non-professional actors once again. This time they are next door neighbors posing as retired military, or the local weed supply family which trades "mom and pop" for queen bee, her daughter the streetwise one with a silver tongue, and a son who's too much of a dipshit to be an appropriate "heavy."
Then there is the estranged wife and mother-in-law who do more of the same. These people use, languish about the house, curse like sailors, and just don't amount to much. All of them fall prey to Mikey Saber's (Simon Rex) hyperactive delivery and ineffable charm, as we witness him bamboozle one character after another for 90 minutes. Again I say, not many rooting interests.
Of course Sean Baker sets all of this against a backdrop of small, rural Texas life near the 2016 election. What is probably most undersold about the picture is its fabulous cinematography. There is this sort of olden days, shimmering shiny haze over all the shots. The picture is rustic, but not in a nostalgic way. Rather, all its characters appear to be frying in the heat, so to speak, like ants under the cruel magnifying glass of a disturbed youth.
Eventually, the dawning realization that Mikey is every bit as vulnerable as these others are began to turn the picture positively for me. What really incites the film's action is the introduction of the donut store worker, nicknamed "Strawberry." She plays foil, in various ways, to Mikey's air of perfect composure and insouciance. Of course, all of life is a transaction to him, so he sees the possibility of being the beneficiary of this young lady's nascent rise. Soon, a scheme is hatched to ride her coattails (among other parts of her) back into the porn industry he left behind.
Leaving aside the meta aspects of casting a former MTV VJ and amateur porn "star," I turn now to Rex's performance itself. I'll admit that though I did not find him as captivating as some others, he eventually grew on me (no pun intended). He's best in the film's most vulnerable moments. Most notably, the few shots on the roller coaster when Strawberry reveals that she knows his former secret identity. Or, how he behaves in the aftermath of a tragic event which flops the film right on its head in the final 20 minutes. Again, the way Mikey grovels and tries (unsuccessfully) to appear demure when telling the wife he's been hooking up with and using for a roof over his head that he is splitting town once again.
Of course this is seen most vividly in the film's concluding sequences. I'll acknowledge a great deal of satisfaction at this man's comeuppance, as the "used" at last banded together to dole out a little revenge. You reap what you sow, Mikey. Yet, the inner feelings I had as he made his final walk of shame at least pointed somewhat to the amount of connection that Baker and Rex had established between the audience and this character.
That is when it really hit me. There is ZERO pandering or glorification here. For a guy who, if I'm being honest, has struggled not to see the allure and curiosity of porn and sexual exploration in my weaker moments, it's nice to be reminded of just how exploitive the industry can be to young females and the suitcase pimps who seek to use them. Red Rocket is unflinching in its portrayal of a narcissist chasing his own demented version of the American dream. For that, I must give the film and its lead a great deal of credit.
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