Red Rocket reviewed by Mark Kermode

[@TxxT33]

I actually found a review on letterboxd that criticized this movie for "glorifying predatory behavior" when the movie had simply refused to demonize it on the viewers behalf. It does trick people into thinking it's a comedy, the tragedy is that some viewers are so braindead that they could not see the darkness that was apparent throughout. The movie doesn't force itself on you...and people are mad at that.

[@martincurran4985]

I'm glad you wrote this because that's exactly how I felt the film was supposed to be framed when I saw it. It's a movie which clearly uses its central character to DEMONSTRATE predatory behaviour, but it never uses the narrative to punish or judge him... but what people aren't understanding is that this doesn't mean the film is supporting this behaviour. You have to give Baker credit for making a movie which deals with this subject matter and actually allows the viewer to make up their own mind and doesn't hold their hand. It's a move which could've backfired completely if Baker hadn't stuck to his guns the whole way through making it, but I think the entire movie pulls it off superbly.

[@08emillos]

I also think that Sean Baker gives the girl enough agency and will, so she would maybe be a porn star, but she would also be able to free herself from him and find her own identity.

[@4Everlast]

Some people just need to have explained WTF they just saw, it's the same with this "latterboxd" person.

[@kz.irudimen]

That's strange, I wonder if it is because I saw it alone but I never saw it as a comedy, not for one second. From the very get-go the protagonist is absolutely awful with everyone he talks to and it was 100% obvious to me he that he was extremely toxic. Maybe I knew too much about the movie, I don't know.

[@losttango]

​@@kz.irudimen It was clearly a comedy because it was funny (particularly the fight scene); that's not incompatible with it being about a toxic character. "Dr Strangelove" and "Lolita" are both very funny comedies about toxic individuals.

[@mais_uma_saidiera]

His film "allows the audience to arrive at that opinion" - aka brilliant film-making. Not spelling it out for you. Not saying 'here, look at this bad guy'... Just beautifully nuanced, uncomfortable, endearing, exasperating film-making. What a fecking brilliant film.

[@AwfulWaffle8474]

this was a rare movie that had me questioning my own judgments of the characters hours after it was over. I loved that it didn't hold your hand and let you decide how you feel about each character.

[@martincurran4985]

I feel like Baker is making British kitchen sink dramas, but framing them through a very American lens. I can see echoes of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh in his work, but his movies feel so authentic to his own vision. I dunno if that makes sense to anyone else, but that's just how his work makes me feel.

[@thegirlinquestion]

i 100% agree with you! i’ve described his films as kitchen sink too. andrea arnold is the same!

[@alechats5184]

He being toxic is sort of the core of the movie in my opinion. This movie was amazing really dark in theory but also funny

[@CaptainSkeletor]

Yes! He's a horrible person but Simon Rex brings such charisma you can't help but root for him to change.

[@upfulsoul826]

Funny how?

[@justinmj6586]

Yet you like him in the beginning and the film respects the audiences intelligence by allowing you to make your own judgements.

[@tashvadj4914]

@@upfulsoul826 Right. I loved the film but it’s not a comedy.

[@mikemcmike6427]

Agreed. He’s nothing but pure selfish ego: he’s a chameleon who uses his charm to win over people to use them. He will show up on his ex wife’s door in another 4 years when the recent girl he brought is used up and ruined.

[@MrIrrationalSmith]

This was my first Sean Baker film, and I absolutely loved it. If Mark regards Tangerine and Florida Project with that much more esteem, I'll certainly be watching them.

[@tylerblair318]

Expect the same aesthetic but not necessarily the same lens that the film is viewed through. Florida Project is a much more sincere film and much more digestible. I think Florida Project is his best work and probably the best film of whatever year it released.

[@silent-trouble]

They are both really good but "The Florida Project" in particular. One of my favorite movies of the last decade. It is full of sadness, poetry and joyful energy at the same time.

[@rafd3593]

The Florida Project, my favourite too

[@costeris35]

Florida project is wonderful. I’ll have to look for Tangerine.

[@jameschesterton]

Definitely check out the Florida Project, Willem is delightful in it.

[@agraciotti]

Yeah, the fact he is toxic is the whole point of the film. It plays with moral values in a twisted way, for sure, but the point of the film (and the whole Baker's career, as it seems) is precisely the kind of human beings the fall of the American Dream has created. I found it brillant.

[@GetOutOfMyNoodleShop]

saw it a couple of weeks ago. it's utterly engrossing.

[@danielcastillo4537]

It so crazy how Sean Baker got the feel, almost everything right down to the Big Red soda, mention of Valeros to the Luby's restaurants; all Texas stables. There are small towns like that in Texas particularly along the coast vulnerable to hurricanes, where people work industrial jobs like that in the movie. Where generations work there all their lives and never make it. The backdrop merely serves as a fertile ground where exploitation at all levels occurs. Mike Saber is just a symptom of that exploitation and opportunism. He moves to each character like a parasite. We also see the power of words, how people are gaslighted therefore can be easily manipulated. I do like the ambiguous ending just like in "Florida Project". At some point I hope he makes a film with some cogent ending. Athough I do appreciate the ambiguous endings of his films at some point that will paint him into an artistic corner.

[@benmullins8212]

I feel that Sean Baker surely intended that our relationship to Simon Rex's protagonist (as the viewer) would end up mirroring the grooming ritual that Rex's character was participating in on-screen.

[@Luvie1980]

Simon Rex won an award for this

[@TheIrishdriveby]

It’s mental to think that this Simon Rex was the same guy from Scary Movie 3. The man really has come a long way from parody movies!

[@happybaby323]

I didn’t even realize that, wow! Learn something new every day 😂

[@GT-wo2oj]

I love Simon Rex’s work! I just watches one of his short films, was only like 10 minutes long so you should check it out, quite the performance. Going to watch another one in maybe 45 minutes? give or take.

[@m.j.nicholls]

Tsk! The affective fallacy, Mark. The character is odious, but the performance is tremendous, and the whole film mesmerising throughout.

[@markytolcher6831]

same thing with Eric Roberts in Star 80; hideously sleazy, unrepentant, but brilliantly played... Martin Sheen in Badlands, Dylan Baker in Happiness and Michael Rooker in Henry are also great stigmatized performances. Sometimes the best way to condemn a behavior is to depict it honestly - without resorting to a deus ex machina to punish the guilty in the end. Some viewers disagree and want their conflict served up WWE style - ie bad guy gets chaired by showboating hero. Which is fine, but when these same viewers watch a film like Red Rocket they're expecting to be blatantly cued on how to feel about the characters. When that never happens, they sometime assume the director is condoning the wrongheaded characters, which is a shame.

[@silobandnj3967]

While I don’t like this one as much as other Baker films, I still was wildly entertained with red rocket. -Now I wanna hear Kermode thoughts on Drive My Car (2021)

[@TheNinjaMarmot]

I don't think he liked this one. RLM loved it, esp cinematography

[@BeefMode88]

I can understand why people think it doesn't hold your hand and judge the characters, but the ending sort of broke that trend and displays Mikey's ridiculous fantasy pretty well. I've read from multiple other people that it doesn't criticize people like him, and I just can't see how people missed that. Maybe I'm just interpreting it wrongly, but I felt super grossed out afterwards.

[@GT-wo2oj]

“A suitcase pimp? Heavens thats absolutely terrible!” 😆😆😂😂

[@hellosayonara6960]

He just sort of gets worse very gradually through out the movie where you almost don't noticed in a strange sort of way. It's a well done movie but probably not one anyone would watch more than once ever

[@WanderingChin]

I've watched it three times.

[@losttango]

I think it might be an easier watch second time round actually. Since you know what's going to happen (it could have been so much worse...) Part of the reason I found it hard to watch was dread of what might happen next.

[@thomasbland5450]

Anyone think of that South Park scene when you hear Red Rocket?

[@melvert33]

Saw it today and thought it was a quality film, definitely have to watch Florida Project. As far as the Mike Saber character, he obviously knew how to charm people but came across as a complete psychopath who destroys everyone he comes into contact with.

[@AMultipolarWorldIsEmerging]

Looks great! Definitely going to check it out

[@mikabreto]

Mikey’s character was really deserving of a stab to death in his sleep after the way he fed Strawberry a pack of lies, completely wrecked his ex-wife, mistreated his mother-in-law, and whooped it up upon hearing the responsibility statement from his neighbor. Instead, he got sent his way in the second most satisfying way, with his tail between his legs like the dog that he was. I love his repeated look at the dog, as if he wants the dog to back him up. Another scene I thought was very effective was Mikey on his bikey crossing paths with the woman in the motorized wheelchair. Echoing how Mikey is deficient in his abilities. He doesn’t learn from his mistakes and always feels like someone else is more at fault than himself.

[@himeisfred]

You should be sympathising with everyone around the central character rather than the guy himself

[@DirtyDawg]

Loved this movie

[@caxzrockz]

Seeing it on Wednesday

[@GhostJist]

Nabokov meets Harmony Korine.

[@Mrflippyfloop]

This film is 100% cringe. I tried to like it but I just hatted it.

[@gamleskalle1]

Hated it you mean

[@puepole]

Everyone has their own hot button subject they don't like to see in movies. Mark defends graphic violence in all sorts of weird Lars Von Trier movies, but anything to do with bros getting laid makes him angry. He hates any movie that involves a hot shot guy trying to hustle bikini chicks. The wolf of Wall Street, pain & gain, entourage, etc. He hates those more than even the most brutal torture Saw movies.

[@losttango]

It's not the getting laid that's the problem, it's being a manipulative sleazeball.

[@HeavyMetalHeadMaster]

Mark is uncomfortable with the relationship in this, but had no problem with the relationship in Licorice Pizza. A little sus.

[@gremsa]

Every film has it's own tone, pretty crude comment

[@losttango]

The older person in Licorice Pizza wasn't trying to groom and exploit the younger one; in fact she spent quite a lot of the movie trying to put him off. And they didn't sleep together either. You'd have to be pretty twisted to think the two were in any way similar.

[@justiceforall6412]

This one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's better than 'Starlette' IMO It's a great character study of the poor and forgotten. The very type of people who are drawn to the industry.

[@roryg137]

It's interesting how this is considered grooming, but noone is saying the same about Licorice Pizza?

[@losttango]

Because Licorice Pizza didn't involve any grooming?

[@Hartley328]

I was the guy still laughing

[@geistakageist2932]

has problems with this... Licorice Pizza is fine.... check yourself. for the record I think both films are great

[@upfulsoul826]

I thought the ending for this movie was annoyingly anticlimactic. The main protagonist is very unlikeable to the point of being creepy. I also, didn't find it very funny. The performances were good though and I think "white trash" America was depicted quite accurately.

[@bryngilwern5766]

This summarises my view perfectly. I thought the overall backdrop of blue collar America was great. The film itself was unlikeable in most ways.

[@tomharris5169]

Great, great movie

[@finlaysonm]

Hard to believe the guy who made the beautifully moving Florida Project was also responsible for this scuzzy misadventure. If someone like Todd Phillips had directed it would it have received quite as much adulation?

[@JonathanNichollstechandsuch8]

So it’s like a grown-up Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?

[@scottieturner.]

Lol absolutely not

[@losttango]

More like a remake of "Alien" set in Texas City. Without the splatter (physically at least).

[@bryngilwern5766]

I found this film to be charmless and unfunny. Also, was it ever explained why he is broke?

[@bryngilwern5766]

@J J Because he spends a lot of time talking about winning prizes and working with top stars in the industry. Therefore, the fact he is broke remains unexplained. It's a gap in the plot that interrupted my immersion in the film. Where did all his money go?

[@himeisfred]

@@bryngilwern5766 who says he actually won anything? He’s a grifter in every aspect of his life why do we assume he’s being honest there?

[@bryngilwern5766]

@@himeisfred That's certainly more plausible. I just can't see how anyone would find him charming, even at the start. He's just irritating.

[@nickdale6660]

He's broke because he was run out of town, or robbed, or whatever, by the last situation he was in. The point of the character is that he is an agent of chaos for whom everything will turn to custard after a period

[@losttango]

He's pretty clearly a liar and bullshitter, the very definition of an unreliable narrator. He must have had a real career, since the awards and internet presence would be very hard to fake, but whatever money he earned probably went up his nose, or got frittered away in some other stupid fashion. (Also, male stars in porn are paid a lot less than female). The fact that his wife calls him a suitcase pimp is a pretty clear indication that his career is on the skids. It's why he's so desperate to get the 17-year-old to LA, so he can live off her earnings.

[@mangs9940]

Not seen the film, but for me there is a line between art and entertainment. I don't feel comfortable with any medium that explores grooming , child abuse in the name of "entertainment". Just my opinion.

[@turnipjuice2626]

As soon as you opened with "Not seen the film, but..." you lost any right to pass comment. Unlike you, I have actually seen it, thought it was brilliant and Mikeys character is a vile piece of sh!t. This movie did not use grooming as entertainment, and in the end I would have happily seen him have his head blown off for his treatment of women.

[@mangs9940]

@J J my opinion was just based on the subject matter. Maybe you are ok with child grooming.

[@turnipjuice2626]

@@mangs9940 Mark... c'mon now...

[@mangs9940]

@J J well just answer my question. How embarrassing!

[@mangs9940]

@J J you see that's a better response. I don't have a problem with someone correcting me about the facts of the film. Its "Mr Smarty Pants" - "How embarrassing" I have a problem with. I obviously misunderstood the review by Mr Kermode. he seemed to imply there was grooming involved in the film. How do you know my family has not been affected by this subject? ????? How disgusting!!!