RED ROCKET
Added 2022-03-07 22:29:16 +0000 UTCWho has seen it? I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it. Still mulling it over. But I hope to work on a review for it soon. What did you guys think?
Comments
Agreed!
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-19 02:49:47 +0000 UTCFinally saw it a few hours ago and I can’t stop thinking about it. Baker seems like the Billy Beane (Moneyball) of directors. You don’t need big Hollywood names to get great performances. You just need the right person for the role and man, he got the right people this time. Hilarious, frustrating, tragic, everything I wanted.
Jackson Littlewood
2022-03-19 02:12:38 +0000 UTCAll fair points, I just disagree. Interesting the film remains enjoyable from completely different perspectives. Proof of good art.
Arthur Augustyn
2022-03-08 02:59:33 +0000 UTCI disagree about Florida Project. Of course Hailee is a terrible mother, but she's also a product of an environment that didnt allow her much opportunity to deal with her situation. I don't think it tried to sympathize with her so much as it wanted to show that as fucked up as people can be, the moments with their loved ones can be pure. By the end...I don't think it tried to make you feel sorry for Hailee. It wanted you to feel sorry for her daughter. The character in Red Rocket by contrast...is not taking care of small children. He is out for himself. All of his decisions he makes are out of selfishness purely, and never in consideration of others. If he had a child in the film, then naturally...we would see a more sympathetic side. But...he doesnt. And in a way, that loneliness at the end of the film, I found devastating in a completely different way.
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-08 02:00:30 +0000 UTCI liked it a lot and I was surprised because I really did not like The Florida Project. I think a key distinction between the two is Red Rocket didn't hesitate to suggest Mikey is a dirtbag. I mean the plot is literally about him grooming a minor to become a porn star. The moral deviancy of the goal meant watching the necessary challenges in his story became entertaining because the audience didn't really want him to succeed anyway. The ending is ambiguous but in all the ways that we would hope it would be: is this guy's shit finally going to catch up to him? By comparison, I thought The Florida Project tried to get us to sympathize with Halley even though we watched her be a miserable person for 2 hours, sabotage her relationship with the one person who tried to help, and did the opposite of the best decision every time. To end that movie on "isn't this a tragedy" was very frustrating. Baker is getting better at framing his stories. I am very glad he seems to be the only active filmmaker capturing "the underbelly of America." It is absolutely critical component of our country today but largely absent in our art/culture.
Arthur Augustyn
2022-03-08 00:24:48 +0000 UTCI agree that Rex is totally underrated here, and a unique character to follow for the reasons you mentioned. I am not sure where I would rank it as of now...but I do think Florida Project is my favorite overall. Tangerine perhaps the most funny.
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-07 23:12:53 +0000 UTCabsolutely
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-07 23:11:46 +0000 UTCDefinitely memorable main character. I was a fan of this dude in Scary Movie 3 XD. So I always felt he had a likeable quality to him. But man...they really utilized him well here.
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-07 23:11:37 +0000 UTCI liked it a lot. Simon Rex gave my favorite performance of last year, the way he got me to root for his charming down-on-his-luck character at first, then gradually reveal the manipulativeness, self-absorption, and all-around sociopathy of the character as the film went on (I still haven’t forgotten the reptilian look in his eyes the moment he first saw Strawberry—the turning point for him in the movie). Yet even after we see everything he does and know everything he’s planning to do, Rex still gets us to care for him. Sean Baker does it again by drawing us into a world of people on the fringes of society and makes it come alive with a refreshing lack of judgment. I didn’t find it to be as absorbing and strong as Florida Project, but that may have to do with the nature of RR’s central character being more repellent than anybody in FP. If there’s any flaws, it might be that the film goes on too long. I think at least one or two sequences could be cut and everything would still hold up. Otherwise, Red Rocket is a very good movie, another solid entry from Sean Baker, who’s turning into one of my favorite contemporary filmmakers.
Bennett Oliver
2022-03-07 23:07:04 +0000 UTCLoved it. Almost certainly in my top 10 for the year. And works in the political stuff just subtly enough without being didactic. Great, great performance by Simon Rex.
Jim Barnes
2022-03-07 22:44:25 +0000 UTCLove it. I've seen this, Florida Project and Tangerine and I'd say this is my favorite of his. Consistently funny with just an absolutely killer central performance from Simon Rex who is not getting the wide recognition he deserves for this movie. His movies make me feel really uncomfortable because they capture the awkwardness of real life flawlessly. But with this one, he added a character that starts off as a real underdog character and slow turns into just this slimy, deplorable creep but, what really fucked me up, I still found him charming even though I knew he was gross. That's definitely the power these sort of people have and it's unsettling.
Tyler Shobe
2022-03-07 22:34:41 +0000 UTC
