Mikey (Simon Rex), a middle-aged, down on his luck former porn star returns to his small Texas hometown, moving back in with his estranged wife Lexi (Bree Elrod) and her mother Lil (Brenda Deiss). He meets 17 year-old Strawberry (Suzanna Son) working in a doughnut shop and starts a relationship with her with a view to making her an adult movie actor.
Director Sean Baker has made his name with films focusing on the American underclass. Whilst the characters in Tangerine and The Florida Project were deeply flawed there was a level of humanity present that made them sympathetic. However, everyone in Red Rocket is an unrepentant criminal, a liar, unpleasant, stupid, or a combination of the above! That would be okay if they weren’t so uninteresting or if the bloated 127 minute film did not meander so much.
Baker also managed to get great performances from inexperienced actors in his two previous films, here they feel largely fake. Son is an exception to that although her character is more of an old man’s fantasy rather than a believable person.
He does capture the despair living in America’s most boring and soulless state very well but this is the first big disappointment of the year.
Rating: 4 out of 10