RED ROCKET (A) - No one has been on a roll like our guy Sean Baker. This is his third perfect movie in a row, counting "Tangerine" (our fourth favorite film of 2015) and "The Florida Project" (No. 1 in 2017). He has the unparalleled ability to bring to life the joys and travails of the underclass.
For the first time he focuses on a charismatic, somewhat experienced actor -- here it's Simon Rex -- to tell the story of the childishly named Mikey, an aging discarded porn star who returns to his small Texas hometown to try to plot and scam his way back to L.A. Rex is a feverish ball of energy as Mikey, who makes nice with his estranged wife, Lexi (Bree Elrod), while plying his snake oil to seduce a 17-year-old doughnut-shop worker who likes to be called Strawberry (Suzanna Son). Those are the only three actors with any experience, as Baker, like he often does, leans on non-actors to capture an impressive level of realism. Some of the newcomers are revelations, including Brittney Rodriguez as June, a menacing enforcer for her family's drug operation, and Ethan Darbone as Mikey's sad-sack neighbor and foil, Lonnie.
Mikey moves in with Lexi and her mom while reconnecting with June's mom to sell weed as a way to reboot his finances. He re-seduces the skeptical Lexi, giving her false hope about a future together, while going rogue with his weed sales by targeting oil-field workers who patronize the doughnut shop, pocketing those extra proceeds. (At least the third film in a row that Baker centers around a doughnut establishment.) Mikey sees the soon-to-be barely-legal Strawberry as his ticket back to porn stardom back on the west coast.
Baker locks this plot together like a jeweler and then picks it apart like a safecracker. Two hours fly by as he unleashes Mikey, who can barely mask his massive insecurities, to maraud through this fictional depressed town, headed for an inevitable crash that is well earned and deliciously delivered. This is a thrill ride masterfully executed by a director that no other can come close to these days.
THE BETA TEST (B) - Our other guy, Jim Cummings, is Sean Baker and Simon Rex rolled into one, presenting here as another high-strung man this/close to completely losing his shit. Here he plays Jordan, a C-list Hollywood agent who is lured by a mysterious purple invitation to a one-night-only, no-strings-attached hotel-room fling with a stranger. He spends the rest of the movie unraveling before our eyes in the weeks leading up to his wedding day.
Cummings has been down this path before. He broke through in 2018 with "Thunder Road" and dialed it up a notch in 2020 with "The Wolf of Snow Hollow," both times playing a law enforcement officer having a major meltdown. Here we have a different career choice, but the main character is yet again battling sobriety and sanity. Cummings writes, directs and stars with pal P.J. McCabe who plays his business partner.
But it's Cummings' show, and his impeccable timing turns incredulity into an art. There's a hint of diminishing returns with this unstable type, and this time, like with "Snow Hollow," Cummings leans into fantasy and horror sequences, mostly to show Jordan's mind breaking apart. He can still stick the landing of his shtick, but you have to wonder where he goes next.
BONUS TRACKS
The trailers:
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