Grizzly Review: God Bless America

The most recent generation of human beings, and more specifically American human beings, is known as the “generation of entitlement”. We’ve been given the most technology, the most variety, and most of all more career options than any generation before us. We can do, or not do, anything we want. Yet, as time goes on, it seems like all we want to do is nothing or everything. We’re either changing the world, or watching the world change right before our eyes.

Everyone over the age of 30, and a lot of people under, have had thoughts of killing the idiots who are supposedly educating the young minds of our great country. On the conservative side, it’s the Barack Obama’s and the Bill Maher’s and the Rachel Maddow’s of the world who are ruining the world. But on the liberal side it’s the Rush Limbaugh’s and the Bill O’Reilly’s and Michael Savage’s and Mitt Romney’s who are damning the United States to the deepest layer of Dante’s Inferno.

Meet Frank (Joel Murray), a middle aged, overworked, underpaid, and depressed man who decides to literally live the dream. After wrongly being fired for sexual harassment and being told that he has a brain tumor, Frank gives the ultimate middle finger to the world and starts killing our nation’s most repellent and atrocious citizens. He gets the idea after seeing a copy-cat “My Super Sweet 16” on TV. Completely disgusted by the state of our nation’s youth, he adopts the mentality of “If you can’t change ’em, kill ’em”. And that’s exactly what he does.

After his first, sloppy assassination, he picks up Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr), a 16 year old sociopath ADD child who wants nothing more than to take the life of guilty filth. Reluctantly allowing her to come along, the two form a strong bond and become something of a “Mickey and Mallory” for the YouTube age. From state to state, target to target, Roxy and Frank witness firsthand the ins and outs of America’s worst personalities.

When I was going to rent God Bless America from iTunes, I saw a comment that said: “…my wife started playing ‘Words with Friends’ 5 minutes in.” That beautifully worded sentence is, in a nutshell, what God Bless America is essentially about. We’re a society that revolves around technology. We victimize the weak and exploit them for our own entertainment. We’re consumed by technology and all that is has to offer. In fact, if you’d like to hear me rant more about the product of a generation of inept children, read this right here.

At times heartwarming, at times extremely violent, and at times overly preachy, God Bless America is one hell of a film that doesn’t really know what it wants to be. Uneven as a see-saw, God Bless America is good, but not great. While I agree with almost everything the film had to say, its method of saying it was rather amateur, especially considering how gifted writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait is when it comes to screenplays.

The central performance by Joel Murray is one of the best I’ve seen all year, and he definitely elevates the sometimes unrealistically long winded monologues. Tara Lynne Barr is also excellent as a blood-thirsty high school student out for revenge against her generation.

Is God Bless America quality entertainment? Probably not, no. But is it entertaining as all hell with a good message to move it along? You bet your ass it is. If God Bless America isn’t great, it is one thing; original. And in a world of sequels and remakes, that in itself is something to be thankful for. And for that, I say not God bless America, but God bless Bobcat Goldthwait. For having a voice that isn’t conventional in the least.

3.5/5 Bears

“God Bless America”- My Favorite Movie Without Even Seeing It

God Bless America stars Mad Men actor Joel Murray (brother of hilarious Bill Murray) as Frank, a terminally ill man who is fed up with the awful American douche bags. His accomplice (because he can’t get rid of all the Kardashians and Jersy Shore cast members by himself) is a 16-year-old girl named Roxy.

Check out the trailers and a clip…

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

Random Clip:

So far, by looking at the trailers and the clip, this movie is long overdue. In the world of reality TV shows, distracted and disrespectful adults, and everyone’s blind sense of entitlement, America needs justice. I cannot tell you how many times I have been in the middle of a face-to-face conversation with a friend, and they pick up their phone to answer a text message. I have been brought to physical illness by shows like “16 & Pregnant” and “My Super Sweet 16”. I cannot wait to see this movie.

God Bless America, written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait [Ed. – Yeah, we didn’t know he was still alive either] will be playing in theaters May 31. See it. And if you don’t like what he is doing in the movie, that means you are one of the jerks he would be killing.

In Case You Missed It Review: Super

In 2010, we were introduced to one of the best films of the year, Kick-Ass, as well as the future of female actors, Chloe Grace Moretz. Playing Hit Girl, the infamously foul-mouthed pre-teen assassin, Moretz nailed the role perfectly and that will forever go down as my favorite performance of that year.

2011 gave us the flip side of what seemed to be the same story. Whereas Kick-Ass celebrated its unrealistic nature and extreme cheesiness, James Gunn’s new film Super revels in realism. Starring Rainn Wilson, the film follows a loyal husband named Frank D’Arbo, a fry-cook at a local diner. When his wife, Sarah (Liv Tyler), falls for a manipulative drug dealer named Jacques (Kevin Bacon), it’s up to Frank to save her from Jacques, but more importantly from herself.

To do this, he becomes a “superhero”, under the name The Crimson Bolt. He spends his first few nights hanging around dumpsters waiting for crime to come to him, with no luck. Inspired by a Christian TV star known as The Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion), Frank searches for meaning in life, as well as what he can do to help the innocent people of his city.

One day, while at a movie theater, a man cuts in line to much disapproval from the rest of the people behind him. Frank, in a misguided act of heroism, changes into his Crimson Bolt costume in his car, grabs a large wrench, and bludgeons the man on the head, causing his skull to split open. This well-meaning but ultimately daft and vigilante behavior lands Frank a spot on the local news, which labels him a dangerous vigilante.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the only way that Frank has any chance of getting Sarah back from Jacques is to accept an offer by a local comic book chick named Libby (Ellen Page) to be his sidekick. A borderline psychotic young girl, Libby, whose superhero name is Boltie, begins hatching a plan with The Crimson Bolt, who has now adopted the catchphrase “Shut up, Crime!”, to get Sarah back once and for all.

Super, which is Slither writer/director James Gunn’s new film, is a darkly hilarious and brutally violent film about the chemically imbalanced vigilante in all of us. Rainn Wilson plays a distressed husband pushed to the point of violence perfectly, and his onscreen chemistry with Ellen Page is comedy gold. Previously sharing the screen with her for a scene in 2007’s Juno, it’s good to see them both starring in a movie together because from that one scene in Juno, I knew they would do well together if they co-starred with each other in a dark comedy. These are the things I daydream about don’t judge me.

Kevin Bacon is great as usual, playing a good villain with a particularly toothy smile. His sometimes dim-witted cronies make for some pretty great laughs, especially when they come into contact with Frank in the explosive climax. James Gunn’s directing is perfect for a film like this, previously displaying his action/comedy chops in his first feature film, Slither.

Super is probably not everyone’s idea of a good time. Some will find it dull, some will find it too brutal or realistic for a comedy film. Some will even find it to be completely unfunny with its dark punch lines and physical comedy. I’ll give you a taste of what you’ll be seeing; Super contains the funniest rape scene out of any movie I’ve ever seen. Take that as you will, but it’s true.

4/5 Bears