Film Review — Red Rocket
Sean Baker’s latest features fine performances and direction, and also a serious problem
Red Rocket, the latest film from Sean Baker, director of Tangerine and The Florida Project, has had some great reviews. Frankly, I liked it a lot less than his earlier films. Yes, it features some great direction and performances, so I admired the film a great deal, but there’s an important difference between “liked” and “admired”.
I could claim my issue is the unlikeable protagonist, but that would be too simplistic. After all, plenty of my favourites feature troubled, even loathsome protagonists. Citizen Kane, The Treasure of The Sierra Madre, A Streetcar Named Desire, Hud, A Clockwork Orange, Get Carter, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Dangerous Liaisons, Reversal of Fortune, The Devil Wears Prada, There Will Be Blood, The Social Network, Nightcrawler, Uncut Gems, I Care a Lot and many others are films I consider top tier, and give my highest recommendation. Why then was I so bothered by the protagonist of Red Rocket?
Critic Mark Kermode suggested in his typically eloquent BBC Five Live review that audiences may feel tricked into initially liking Mikey (Simon Rex); an ageing porn star who, having fallen on hard times, returns to Texas around the time of Trump’s 2016 election bid, begging to stay a few days…
