Red Rocket (2021)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Red Rocket (2021) – S. Baker

I’ve enjoyed the movies I’ve seen by director Sean Baker (Tangerine, 2015; The Florida Project, 2017) but admit that they may not be for everyone.  This is probably even more true of his latest release, Red Rocket (2021), which stars Simon Rex, as an out-of-work porn star who returns to his small Texas hometown to try to get his life back together. Baker’s films generally take a sympathetic but clear-eyed view of people on the fringe of society, those who are struggling to make ends meet. But Mikey (Rex) is a different breed of protagonist: he’s charismatic but self-absorbed, unattuned to the feelings and needs of others, and just plain wrong-headed. He descends on his ex-wife (also an ex-porn star) and her mum, offering to contribute to the rent (which, failing to find a job due to an inexplicable resumé, he manages by selling weed, still illegal in Texas when the film takes place in 2016). And while it seems at first that Mikey and Lexi (Bree Elrod) might get back together after their long estrangement, Mikey soon finds himself infatuated with a teenage donut store worker (Suzanna Son) and dreams of using her to make his way back into the adult film industry. Similar to other Baker movies, a real sense of place is developed in the film, with Mikey riding a bike around the poor and industrial locations, often at twilight. Occasionally, we see him in repose, potentially weighing things up. But, more often than not, he is talking, talking, talking, and hustling, hustling, hustling. The film might be a comedy but only for the ridiculous situations that Mikey gets himself into -- which also leave a sour or even bitter aftertaste (and consequences, for others, if not for himself). In the end, Baker probably lets things run on too long, with some redundant scenes and too much unnecessary chatter about porn. The result is an interesting character study but not as poignant (or funny) as might have been intended.

Further reflections:  If I made it sound as though Mikey is able to reflect on his actions, that's dead wrong. Instead, he seems extraordinarily self-unaware.  Moreover, with all the shots of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign inserted in the film, I have the feeling that Baker has intended to make a connection between Mikey's insularity (you can't even call it shamelessness) and that of Trump, his followers, or perhaps even America as a whole. An inability to think beyond immediate self-interest or gratification and about the consequences of one's actions might be one of the target's here.