Super Frat

I got a Netflix account now.  So these days, I’m seeing a lot more movies.  I thought I’d review some lesser known ones that seem to be worth renting.

The 2011 movie, God Bless America, was written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and stars Joel Murray as a middleaged man that goes on a rampage to rid the world of the most repulsive people produced by civilization: reality television stars.  Murray, younger brother of Bill, is Frank.  A divorced man that loses his job and finds out he’s dying and then snaps under the pressure from the damage done by society’s morons.  He eventually teams up with Roxy, played by Tara Lynne Barr, a high schooler with a similar outlook on life.

This movie has a lot in common with films like Super, Falling Down and Natural Born Killers, but Goldthwait doesn’t bring the intensity that these other films have.  He purposely undercuts it, since the film doesn’t have a moody soundtrack that’s telling you how to feel in each scene.  He wastes too much time setting up what are clearly annoying people and Frank watches so much TV, I found myself wanting to fast forward through the film just to get the part where he starts killing people.

Somehow, the duo manage to get away with an awful lot and there’s no real explanation of how they accomplish this.  I think the overall implication is that society at large is just so dumbed down at this point, there’s hardly anyone left smart enough to catch those with even moderate intelligence.  Roxy plays an outcast, but we don’t really see that, so that aspect of her character doesn’t really feel genuine.

But ultimately, the film takes the duo to the logical conclusion (of sorts) and doesn’t shy away from making a protagonist ugly.  I think Bobcat is a decent director, but his scriptwriting could use a little work.  Although I found the film pretty cathartic, there was some fat that could’ve been trimmed, leaving time to explore these two characters or kill some more deserving ass clowns.  I found Joel’s performance a little subdued and Tara’s a little over the top, but it’s worth throwing in your cue.  Especially if you’re sick of right wing nut jobs, reality TV and dumbasses.

Yes, put it in your cue.