Red Rocket is the new film from Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project) and stars Simon Rex as an adult film actor called Mikey who returns to his home town in rural Texas.
I liked Red Rocket a lot. I haven’t seen any of Sean Baker’s previous films and I would definitely want to check them out after this. The film is really well shot and well directed with a brilliant attention to detail in every individual frame. The world of this rural Texan town feels so lived in and real, it makes it seem familiar even though I’ve never been there.
There is a mixture of professional and non-professional actors in this film and it works really well. Simon Rex has got a lot of praise for his central performance and rightly so, but so many of the supporting players also do a brilliant job.
I love the design of the locations in this film, like the donut shop and Mikey’s Wife’s house. They just feel so authentic and this may be because they’re real places and not sets built for this film, which is even more impressive.
I also really like the story and how the film doesn’t judge any of the characters even when (particularly in Mikey’s case) they do horrible things. It is left up to the viewer to interpret and react to what they see on screen.
I would definitely recommend Red Rocket. It deals with some difficult subject matter, but in an interesting way. The only reason it isn’t rated higher is that I do think the film is a bit long and that makes some of the scenes a bit less memorable. But overall, it is very strong. I definitely think there’s an argument it was overlooked at the Oscars, I don’t know if its the subject matter, but its better than a few of the other Best Picture nominees. 3.5 Stars.
(Oscars post is coming, just wanted to see the BAFTAs first, will be out next week).
Movie Night 