Red Rocket: Movie Review

Cast: Simon Rex, Suzanna Son
Director: Sean Baker

Make no mistake about it, Red Rocket is a film about desperation.

At its heart, is Simon Rex's Mikey, a washed up 50-something former porn star who’s headed back to his hometown in Texas for none-too-clear reasons.

With nothing but the clothes on his back, and an ambition to weasel his way back into his former wife’s life, Mikey is the king of the hustle - despite heading to various job interviews on a borrowed push bike.

He is in pursuit of the American dream - much like many of the protagonists of Sean Baker’s oeuvre.

But things take a turn when Mikey discovers a nearly 18 year old girl named Strawberry (Son) working at a local donut shop and pushes to turn her life around, and sees in her his shot for redemption.

Red Rocket, set as it is during Donald Trump’s presidential tilt, is a hangout movie that showcases the underbelly of the US, so keen to be galvanised and mobilised by Trump’s campaign- the believers, the braggadocios, the deluded.

Thankfully, Mikey manages to be just on the right side of the ledger thanks to an energetic gift of the gab performance from Rex in this occasionally overlong ramshackle film which appears to meander badly in parts, but is nonetheless compelling to watch.

How much your tolerance will take depends on your own sense of right or wrong and a script that does nothing to blur the lines of a near paedophile story line. Baker has no desire to condemn or even cloud proceedings making Red Rocket an occasionally morally grey film- no matter how beautifully it is lensed.

With similarities to Baker's The Florida Project, the verite of the actors and the general shocks that Red Rocket holds, Baker's look at the fringes of those working in the sex industry won't be for everyone; it certainly doesn't make an easy watch in places, but along with some compelling lead performances and a grifter with gusto as its main actor, it remains worthy of your time - even if it's not entirely Baker at his best.