I simply cannot let the year pass by without reviewing Red Rocket. Sean Baker is not a director I think about often, but I loved The Florida Project for its unique hyper-realism, exploring a side of Florida that we rarely ever see. His follow up movie, four years later, is Red Rocket; a movie I’ve heard mentioned in passing on various movie platforms, which signals to me that this will be another memorable experience. With so many award contenders coming out at the start of the year, I had to make sacrifices, and Red Rocket is a late catch-up from a January release. But our time has come – Red Rocket, to get it’s just desserts.
Mikey Davies (Simon Rex) arrives on the doorstep of his estranged wife and mother-in-law’s property pleading to crash on the couch for a few nights. He will pay rent, and he will get a job doing something, anything, in this rundown slow-paced Texas town, that has ‘big oil’ smokestacks looming to one horizon. But it seems the employers of this town would be more likely to hire Mike if he was an ex-criminal, rather than the aging prolific porn star that he is. You see, prior to this, Mikey lived out in California and made a presence of himself under the pseudonym ‘Mikey Saber’, where he is now keen to promote his wares on Pornhub whenever he can. We follow Mikey around on his daily routine, as he tries to maintain a hospitable living arrangement with wife Lexi (Bree Elrod) and her mother Lil (Brenda Deiss), whilst secretly searching for his next big break, and something sweet on the side.
Any movie that starts with NSYNC’s ‘Bye Bye Bye’ has already won my heart. Red Rocket is almost a tale told in three sections – the first concerning Mikey bending over backwards to find a way back into his old town life, to sweet-talking Raylee/Strawberry (Suzanna Son) at the donut shop, and followed by a frantic dash to the finish as the webs he’s been weaving threaten to swallow him up. Initially, you almost have to admire this guy for his hustle, but then, you better be okay with him courting jailbait… Bear with me as I look up the legal age of consent in the state of Texas… Google is searching… ah, it is seventeen, as the movie suggests – across Australia, it’s eighteen. Even still, slowly but surely, you start to realise how Mikey is a sleazy, irresponsible, and selfish individual.
When Mikey is telling Lexi that he’s leaving in the morning you can cut the tension with a knife. This guy then has the gall to go sit in bed and take deep breaths, and you know it just can’t end well for him – the movie Gods won’t allow it. In fact, starting way before that, the tension twists and tightens like barbed wire, with the same schematics as Uncut Gems, because the house of shady deals Mikey’s been building are too shoddy, too flimsy, to be sustained. Strawberry is going to find out he doesn’t live in the suburbs, Lexi is going to get sick of his disrespect, the next-door neighbour Lonnie (Ethan Darbone) is going to blab, or the law is going to bust him for selling bud where he’s been warned against. Throw in the fact that Strawberry’s ex-boyfriend’s family is a little unhinged, and that Mikey’s escape plan hinges on coercing a young girl into making porn, and there’s a lot of chainsaws in the air. For another incredibly grounded project by Sean Baker, Red Rocket does include a few larger-than-life moments too, that are almost unbelievable – the incredible highway pileup is one of those things that could happen, I’m sure has happened, but even then, would fathom believing. Nash’s (Parker Brigham) parents show up to kick Mikey’s ass in matching red outfits too, which is a little surreal, and a little funny, but not out of the realm of possibility either.
Simon Rex won a lot of accolades at the start of the year, but Suzanna Son is a stand-out too, yeah? Or have I been suckered in by her fiery youthful beauty too? No, Son was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, and she is perfect for what her character needs to be; I think there’s always an added vulnerability when nudity is involved too. In fact, Rex and Son are only two of many actors in Red Rocket that are perfect for their roles – those that play Lil, Lexi, Lonnie, and June (Britney Rodriguez) are all outstanding. The Florida Project excelled at the same, finding obscure talents to fulfil its roles. It’s as if they aren’t even acting – it’s as if this is their lives and we’re just flies on the wall; it’s a strength that both these movies share.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to read into the Trump stuff, other than to perhaps framing Lil and Lexi as unthinking people who watch telly all day. But the mother and daughter combination aren’t slugs, and they are quick to come up with a plan for when Mikey would ultimately betray them. I don’t know what the smokestacks, the chain-smoking and the many looks at Lexi’s outside dog have got to do other than giving this movie a place and personality. I suppose I view Red Rocket as another tale of how young pussy (attention) can make you cocksure – when Mikey comes into the house he is on his best behaviour, but with a starry-eyed future with Strawberry, he starts to get ahead of himself, and I’m sure Lexi was onto something as soon as Mikey wasn’t up for sex. If I’m honest, I’m happiest not trying to dissect this movie, and let it wash over me, just as a peephole into another vale of life. I don’t believe the movie is trying to really be about anything – I think it’s intention is to be a very good movie and an interesting character journey, perhaps peering into the lure of pornography on poor small-town beauties, if anything. But this movie, along with several others I admire, in American Honey, Nomadland, and Minari, highlight a less glamourous side of American life with revered sophistication. I promise not to skimp on the pull cinematic experience next time a Sean Baker movie comes around. Baker seems to be one of those directors that I should shout about from the rooftops, and I urge people to seek out both The Florida Project and Red Rocket. Red Rocket is excellent. And from memory, I think The Florida Project ends with an open somewhat-fantastical scenario too, and it’s left to the viewer to draw their own conclusions on how the story concludes.
5.0
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