Mikey, conversely, manipulates out of selfish self-preservation. Though the characters in Tangerine and The Florida Project are far from faultless-they cheat, lie, steal and betray-it’s clear that this is a necessary means for survival in a world that has forsaken them. He is still plainly discriminated against for his chosen occupation, but he is also quick to connive-whether by blatantly grooming a high school girl to engage in future sex work or allowing others to take the fall for the consequences of his careless impulses. Not only is the location less than idyllic, but Mikey is far more culpable for his misfortune than other protagonists in Baker’s films. Industrial smoke stacks and pothole-pocked streets dominate the landscape, with affluent neighboring towns harboring an equal lack of luster compared to the run-down rentals on Mikey’s side of town. Once finding prosperity in Los Angeles (though arguably still on the periphery of “respectable” entertainment), Mikey returns to a place that lacks promise. In Red Rocket, this dynamic is tacitly inverted. In his directorial breakthrough Tangerine and follow-up The Florida Project, Baker and faithful co-writer Chris Bergoch observe maligned individuals existing on the outskirts of cities emblematic of prosperous fantasy (Los Angeles and Orlando, respectively). Yet in some ways, the film is also a distinct departure. It humanizes sex work through its nuanced portrait, employs an unflinching realism through its incorporation of non-actors, and documents a specific region as well as its often unrecognized inhabitants.
Nearly entrenched in a period of regression, Mikey becomes deeply enamored with a 17-year-old cashier at The Donut Hole named Strawberry (Suzanna Son)-pulling him out of his plan to rekindle his relationship with his wife, vying instead to utilize the young girl as his ticket back into the sex industry.Īs a whole, Red Rocket acts as a perfect compliment to Baker’s previous work. With no means to secure honest work or cash unemployment checks as an out-of-state resident, Mikey falls back into his old gig of selling weed for local supplier Leondria (Judy Hill), who is equally baffled by his return.
#RED ROCKET SEAN BAKER PROFESSIONAL#
However, Mikey’s job search proves immediately arduous-local employers are skeptical of the 17-year gap on his resume, remaining uncertain upon his confession of professional porn stardom (enthusiastically imploring them to Google “Mikey Saber XXX” sans chagrin). After a tensely bitter reunion, the two women agree to let Mikey stay, with the expectation that he pay rent and tend to household chores. Seeing no possible way to stay in California, he resolves to return to a home he dramatically fled all those years ago, confounding his estranged wife Lexi (Bree Elrod) and her mother Lil (Brenda Deiss). adult entertainment sphere, Mikey finds himself desperately strapped for cash as job offers become few and far between. Portrayed with beguiling (though at times disagreeable) levity by Rex, Mikey is the center of Baker’s most complex character study to date-all while maintaining the director’s focus on power dynamics, American disillusionment and those on the margins of society (albeit with an added air of compelling moral ambiguity).Īfter a decades-spanning career in the L.A. But Mikey appears anything but embittered, a spring in his step as he walks through the desolate streets despite his precarious position. Having left his small Gulf Coast town to pursue adult film acting in Los Angeles 20 years prior, his return is essentially admitting defeat. Unfortunately for Mikey, this wave is the same one that washes him up here. This review was originally published as part of Paste’s 2021 New York Film Festival coverage.Ī wave of early aughts nostalgia immediately saturates Red Rocket, Sean Baker’s latest exploration of echt-Americana, by way of NSYNC’s eternal hit “Bye Bye Bye,” which blares as Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) disembarks a bus arriving in his Texas hometown.
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