I’ll Be in My Trailer: 22-Year-Old High School Student Struggles With Reality in Max Steel
Welcome to I’ll Be in My Trailer, where I review movies before they are released, based entirely on their trailers. I’ll just be making things up, so don’t expect any fair or accurate criticism here.
Max Steel tells the story of a widow named Molly McGrath who moves to a small Northwestern town so her son, Max, can attend a special high school for 20-somethings who never knew their fathers. Things go well until her son starts having strange hallucinations and becomes convinced that he is the son of Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath, and also that he has super powers.
Max starts spending his weekends indulging his superhero delusion out at a toy factory that was abandoned in the 90s thanks to NAFTA. When he gets arrested for vandalism and trespassing, the factory owner offers to drop the charges in exchange for exclusive distribution rights to toys based on Max’s insane ramblings. Now Molly struggles to keep her son tethered to reality as all of his hallucinations become popular toys, available in every store.
Considering this film was funded by the toy company Mattel and based on a series of dolls action figures, it delves into some pretty heavy material. Molly’s struggle to keep her son sane in the face of a relentless marketing apparatus that constantly reinforces his delusions of grandeur is a metaphor for all that is wrong with corporate America. One has to wonder if Mattel even read this script before they gave it their stamp of approval.
Most surprising of all is the cameo of Mark McGrath, who hears about Max’s story on a morning drive time radio show, and decides to put on a benefit concert to fund his delinquent child support payments. This is a touching moment in the film, and I must admit this reviewer felt his eyes moisten just a little at the reuniting of a broken family.
Originally published at www.thatsnotcurrent.com on September 17, 2016.
