Hard Times: Lead Simon Rex (Literally) Bares All In Texas-Shot Dark Comedy And Gives A Chaotic Yet Compelling Performance.

Red Rocket.
Director: Sean Baker.
Writers: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch.
Cast: Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Brenda Deiss, Susanna Son.
Opens: TBD.

Writer-director Sean Baker loves to hang out with the weirdos and outcasts on the fringes of society, but he doesn’t like to gawk. He’s got immense sympathy for people just barely scraping by, even when they do things frowned upon by most people. Whether they’re trans sex workers in Tangerine or scheming single mothers in The Florida Project, he never judges.

His intimate and occasionally chaotic style brings him to South Texas, where he filmed Red Rocket in just three weeks during strict COVID-19 protocols. Among the oil refineries and rundown neighborhoods of Texas City, there’s a level of detail and authenticity here that’s impossible to fake. (Just one example: A character offers another a Coke, then hands him a Big Red.)

It’s to this derelict world that Mikey (Simon Rex) returns after flaming out in the world of porn in Southern California. Every word out of his mouth is a half-truth or outright lie, so it’s hard to know exactly how his career crashed and burned. Despite boasting about numerous awards, it seems clear he was never that popular a performer.

In desperation, he convinces his estranged wife Lexi (Bree Elrod) to let him crash with her and her mother Lil (Brenda Deiss). He hitches rides to town with his next-door neighbor Lonnie (Ethan Darbone) or riding a kids’ bike. But it’s a little hard to get a job when your only experience for the last two decades is adult film. So Mikey gets back into drug dealing, and it’s only a matter of time before he’ll screw this up, too.

But he gets stars in his eyes when he meets Strawberry (Suzanna Son), a teenage cashier at the local donut shop. His goal is to turn this red-headed ingenue into the next big porn star. This is where I can understandably see people checking out of the film. It’s inherently repulsive, but Rex and Son are such good performers – and their characters are so compelling – you find yourself rooting for them a bit. Still, you know getting out of this small town will just be another dead end for them.

Red Rocket has the same stressful energy as 2019’s Uncut Gems. If that movie drove you crazy, this one will, too. But like that wild flick, you get sucked into this schemer’s world, hoping for him to get at least one win.

At times, Red Rocket is gross, sad, hilarious and unnerving. But it’s also one of the most authentic and audacious films of the year.

Grade: B+.

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