Red Rocket

This has to be one of the most overlooked A24 movies and one of my favorites. I just have to say first, well this is already the second sentence, but this has got to be one of my favorite movie posters. It's got this old-style hand drawn look to it and the donut colors popping off; it's really cool. The first time I saw this, I've never heard of it from anywhere or anyone, but I was watching some Sean Baker films to prep for seeing Anora last year and this one intriguied me the most, just again because of the way the poster looked. Here I am bringing up the poster again, but now I'll get to some other stuff. I love the way this was shot, I mean all of Baker's films that I've seen look great with it's realistic vibe and breathtaking look and style. The dialogue is suave and it's also really funny, but it doesn't try so hard to be funny. I would call this more of a drama film than a comedy, but you know how many films nowadays try to interject humor in non-comedic films and it just comes off weird, but the comedy works so well here. It's not a comedy film, I know I called this a drama film, but it's like a drama film with mild comedic undertones, and it's intergrated really well. Simon Rex gives off one of the best performances I've seen in recent memory and studios need to cast him more, specifically in lead roles because he acts so naturally in this film, it doesn't feel like he's doing a performance, it feels very grounded and real. I would have wanted to see him get a Best Actor nomination for this film, it's truly a standout and memorable performance, much more than what the Academy did that year. This was a rewatch for me and I specifically did a double feature with this film. I watched Boogie Nights beforehand then went right into watching this film and it goes together really well. I mean both films go into the lives of adult film stars, specifically into the post-career aspects, this film more so, but also, I think this part is cool, both films have scenes revolving around donut shops, like that's dope. This film had to be somewhat influenced by Boogie Nights because they go so well together. I also just want to point this out, if you do a binge watch of this, The Florida Project, and Anora, you really see Sean Baker's trademarks in his films. Definitive songs used at the end and during the films, ambigious endings, semi-related characters. Celebration, Bye Bye Bye, Greatest Day, just wanted to type that out. With this film, the first time I watched it, it really solidified for me that anything Sean Baker makes in the future I'm going to watch as soon as possible. That's all I got, I feel like I stretched this review out too much, but this is just a hidden gem that needs to be seen.