Red Rocket (film)

The cast is drawn significantly from newcomers to film.[6][5]

The film opens with Mikey [Saber] arriving by bus, sans luggage, evidently physically bruised, with about $20 in his pockets. He is in the Texas Gulf Coast town of Texas City, and is returning home after 17 years. He makes his way to the yellow bungalow of the mother, Lil, of his estranged wife, Lexi, where they and their dog, Sophie, live.[4] Lexi orders him to leave their modest home.[4]

Mikey, handsome, charming, and fast-talking, attempts to find work at a local diner and a Dollar General but is hindered by the near-two decade gap in his resume, which he explains as self-employment in the "entertainment" industry; he eventually admits, “I'm a porn star,” encouraging others to look in on his past success: “Google me! Twenty-one million views on PornHub”. He ends up selling marijuana.[5]

Mikey "wears down" Lexi's resistance, and begins staying on Lil’s couch, using the bungalow as his base as he begins his conquest of Texas City, on a bicycle.[4]

Baker and Bergoch conceived of the idea for the Saber character while researching the adult film industry for their film Starlet (2012), during which they met a number of men who fit the archetype of a "suitcase pimp," which Baker defines as “male talent who lives off a female talent in the adult film world."[8][9]

With regard to casting, the director had Simon Rex in mind five years previous to shooting, but had never introduced himself until, on October 23, 2020, Baker called Rex, convinced him to send an audition tape via iPhone, giving him just five minutes to prepare.[10] Baker chose Rex, a model, MTV VJ, actor, and rapper for the role, who then drove to Texas to avoid a post-flight quarantine, as filming was set to begin in three days.[10] David Rooney, writing for the Hollywood Reporter, referred to the casting of Rex as a "winking joke", as he had starred in solo masturbation videos for a gay pornography company before establishing himself in his career.[11][12] Because Baker had asked Rex to trust him, Rex did not tell his agent about the film until after shooting had ended.[13]

Principal photography began on October 26, 2020, and concluded on November 19, 2020, in Texas, United States, during the COVID-19 pandemic, using rigorous safety protocols.[14][15] Red Rocket was shot on 16 mm film.[16] The film had a crew of 10 people, no rehearsal time and mostly non-actors.[13]

Filming locations included restaurants in Texas City and Port Arthur, as well as the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier.[17][18]

Securing the rights to the song "Bye Bye Bye" was not part of the initial budget. All five members of NSYNC had to approve its use.[19][20] Suzanna Son recorded a cover version of the song for the official motion picture soundtrack.[21]

Baker has "devoted [his] career to tell stories that remove stigma and normalize lifestyles" of sex workers through his films.[22] Baker stated that in Red Rocket he wanted to pay homage to "Italian eroticism" and sexploitation films by directors from the 70's like Fernando Di Leo and Umberto Lenzi. He was also inspired by Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express for the outdoor scenes.[20]

In February 2021, A24 acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.[23][24] International distribution rights were sold to Focus Features, Le Pacte, Lev Cinemas and Roadshow Entertainment.[25]

Red Rocket had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on July 14, 2021, where it received a five minute standing ovation.[26][27] It also screened at film festivals in Deauville,[28] Hamburg,[29] London,[30] Mill Valley,[31] Miskolc,[32] New York,[33] Telluride,[34] Rome,[35] San Sebastián[36] and Vancouver[37] among others.

In conjunction with Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival and the Houston Cinema Arts Festival, a drive-in screening of Red Rocket was scheduled in Houston on November 8, 2021, featuring appearances by Baker, the film's cast, and Scott.[38] However, in the aftermath of a mass casualty event at Scott's concert three days prior, the event was cancelled.[39]

The film had a limited theatrical release on December 10, 2021, beginning in New York and Los Angeles.[40][41]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 85 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.0/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Led by Simon Rex's magnetic performance, Red Rocket is another vibrant, ground-level look at modern American life from director/co-writer Sean Baker."[42] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[43]

Todd McCarthy writes of Red Rocket that "[e]ven before much happens, the sense of a very specific location and cultural mindset is very intense." He praises both Baker and lead Simon Rex for their "tremendous energy" and says the film "feels as creatively pure as a novel by a kid just out of college."[44] Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com, on the other hand, calls the ca. 130-minute film "rambling", in particular, describing the middle section "wherein Mikey ensnares [the] freckle-faced 17-year-old donut shop employee... Strawberry (Suzanna Son)", scheming their escape to Los Angeles so that he can lead her to adult film stardom as "one-note and repetitious".[6] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter also criticizes the film mildly for "prolix stretches", saying "it could have used some tightening. But it's a pleasure to put yourself in Baker's capable hands."[11] Says Peter Bradshaw: "With Red Rocket, Sean Baker has given us an adult American pastoral, essentially a comedy, and another study of tough lives at the margin, close in spirit to his lo-fi breakthrough Tangerine."[45] Richard Lawson in Vanity Fair writes, "Baker's choice is a rather perfect one—in contextual terms and actual ones, too. Rex's performance is fleet and nimble, gregarious and shaded in darkness. He and Baker make staccato music together."[12]

Some reactions to the film have stirred a debate about sexual morality in film in the post Me Too era. Seitz of RogerEbert.com concludes that Red Rocket is "the least of the list" of Baker-Bergoch's "impressive library of realistic movies about the rainbow coalition of the American underclass", going on to question moments in the sexually graphic Red Rocket where, if the filmmakers aren't exactly endorsing their protagonist's middle-aged, borderline pedo-pimp obsession with Strawberry, they're not being as rigorous about mediating it as they should.[6] Brianna Zigler in Gawker responds: "It was both refreshing and exhilarating to watch an anti-hero go that low, during a time where it seems like audiences feel obligated to reject bad fictional behavior that isn’t explicitly punished."[46] Variety's Clayton Davis said the film's "risqué" subject matter could be a hindrance but encouraged award voters to nominate Rex, Baker, and Bergoch for Academy Awards.[47]

• Red Rocket at IMDb
• Red Rocket at Rotten Tomatoes
• Red Rocket at A24film.com