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Red Rocket (2021)

Red Rocket (2021)

A beautiful but heartbreaking look at life in the heartland

7.4

Movie

United States of America
English
Comedy, Drama
2021
SEAN BAKER
Bree Elrod, Ethan Darbone, Karren Karagulian
130 min

What it's about

Finding himself down and out in Los Angeles, former porn star Mikey Saber decides to crawl back to his hometown of Texas City, Texas, where his estranged wife and mother-in-law are living. Just as this dysfunctional family seems to be making things work, Mikey meets a young woman named Strawberry working the cash register at a local doughnut shop.

The take

When Mikey Saber’s porn career takes a dip in California, he returns to an estranged wife in Texas, where he meets new and old friends alike and attempts to rebuild his life through a couple of odd jobs. Though Mikey eventually earns his keep, his vanity and eagerness to succeed at all costs threaten to get the best of him.

All this happens against a vibrant backdrop of local sights, beautifully lit and framed by director Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Tangerine). Quaint, naturalistic, and ever-so-subtly political, Red Rocket is another great entry into Baker’s impressions of the vexed American Dream.

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