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Written by: Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch
Directed by: Sean Baker
Starring: Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Suzanna Son
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Mikey Saber is a washed-up porn star who returns to his small Texas hometown, not that anyone really wants him back.
Verdict
A down and out entertainer returns to his home town to scheme his way back into his former life. He's a lowlife, though he's charming enough that sometimes you forget. Throughout the movie we see what's likely the reason he lost everything, and we're never sure if we can trust his stories. It's certainly well done, it's just not a very fun movie as we watch a predator cajole his victims to do his will. It leans towards a film buff movie as it's really well done and does have a distinct style.
It depends.
Review
Sean Baker makes movies that are a slice of life from an overlooked area. His previous films are Tangerine and Florida Project.
Mikey (Simon Rex) gets off a bus in Texas, trying to find a place to stay. He somehow talks his way into staying on the couch at his ex-wife's house. Mikey tries to get a low level job, but he admits in job interviews the reason for the gap in experience. As one person tells him, he's overqualified. It certainly seems like Mikey ran away from something. What's he going to do now? He's really chipper for someone that's down and out, but it seems like he's gaming people to make some ends.
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| Simon Rex plays Mikey Saber |
As with all of Baker's movies, he creates a mood efficiently and quickly. In a few scenes, we get a feel for this town and a few of it's inhabitants. You know this place.
Mikey tells these big stories of his former life to anyone that will listen, and even those that don't. I wondered if they were true. These tales are too tall for someone sleeping on a couch. What happened that he lost everything? Did he ever have this life he claims? By all accounts this is a guy barely holding it together, but just charismatic enough to fool everyone. He's a liar trying to recapture status in Los Angeles. How did he get kicked out and will we find out?
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| Suzanna Son, Simon Rex play Strawberry, Mikey Saber |
We've gotten a sense of this guy, and he states his way back into Los Angeles is seventeen year old Strawberry (Suzanna Son). Mikey is a predator. He slowly pushes her boundaries. You wonder if he even likes her or if it's all a ruse to reclaim whatever he lost. The plot drags a bit as Mikey slowly lures her into his trap. The pacing matches the plot. With how Mikey's schemes play out, I'd guess this is likely why he was chased out of L.A.
Mikey has this big plan to take Strawberry away, but he ends up going back to her with nothing. Throughout the movie we've seen this broken town. We know Mikey is morally corrupt, though charismatic. At the end we get a glimpse of what might very well be how Mikey sees the world. All this talk about getting back in is a fantasy. His talk of big houses and many women seemed a bit unreal, likely as it was a fantasy. We know he was a porn star, but it's likely he wasn't the big deal that he claimed. At the end of the movie we realize we've seen this from his point of view, and we might just have been charmed a little bit by him.
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