Directed by Sean Baker 
Starring Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Brenda Deiss and Suzanna Son

Be warned, Red Rocket is unapologetically and unashamedly risqué and vulgar. But you may already know this if you’re aware of the slang meaning of its title!

Returning to a heavily industrial part of Chicago during the 2016 Presidential election, Mikey’s (Simon Rex) days as an adult film star in Los Angeles have evidently had their heyday. Quite literally battered and bruised, his first stop is a surprise and very unwelcome visit to a woman from his past who’d prefer to never see him again, Lexi (Bree Elrod). Desperately needing somewhere to stay and with nowhere else to go, Lexi begrudgingly agrees to let Mikey crash on the couch for a few days. But Mikey has no intentions or plans to go elsewhere and wastes little time re-acquainting himself with familiar faces, seeking out fresh locals and making more enemies than friends along the way. 

As good as the performance is from Simon Rex, whose own life curiously has a similar trajectory to that of his character in this film, I found Mikey unlikeable at best and intolerable at worst. This movie and its protagonist (if you can consider him that) are extremely blunt, so I will be too. Mikey is a bootlicking brat who is cunning, impetuous and loquacious that is present in practically every scene of the film. The camera aimlessly follows Mikey around town as he forces a friendship with a timid neighbour, becomes a local weed buyer and supplier, attempts to rekindle an old flame and strikes up a flirtatious attachment to a young girl working at a local donut store. Given that Red Rocket is without plot trajectory, is so incredibly dialogue heavy and that dialogue is spoken largely by a character whose actions are untenable, I even found myself detesting the movie at times. However, acclaimed writer and director Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Tangerine) must be credited for pushing boundaries and exhibiting a lesser seen yet revealing (in more ways than one!) part of America and American way of life using mostly amateur actors in very organic style. 

At a smidgen over 2 hours and just like its central character does, this Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or Nominee well and truly overstays its welcome. Or unwelcome, in Mikey’s case. But if you gel with Mikey better than I did, then Red Rocket may very well blast off your sense of humour from the beginning.

Red Rocket is showing in cinemas across Australia from January 6th.

Moviedoc thanks Roadshow Films for the invite to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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