God Bless America
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait / Screenplay: Bobcat Goldthwait / Release date: 4 July 2012
Actors: Joel Murray, Tara Lynne Barr / Genre: Comedy/Crime ‧ 1h 45m
“Things to watch due to the social and cultural insanity of today”.
I’m sure many of you would have missed this film, as typing “God Bless America” isn’t on your daily web browsing agenda. Maybe it is? I don’t know who’s reading this? Who are you people!
Is it lazy to reference similar things? Bah… Let’s be lazy. It will inform your peculiar tastes immediately. God Bless America has a touch of Kick-Ass, Network, Leon and, of course, Idiocracy. Plenty of people reference Falling Down as that’s the most obvious… Not us. Oh no, we won’t reference that!
Did that help pique your interest? Go on you naughty tyke, on your way, go enjoy the film. If you haven’t watched any of the above films…. You’ve got some work to do. You can always return later. Good luck.
From the dark ages of 2011 God Bless America is a gruesome black comedy. Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait… what… really? This guy? Cough… Ok. Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait
I’m being silly, of course, Bobcat’s bloody great.
To go into too much detail would do the film a disservice, so let’s keep it simple. An insurance salesman snaps due to our increasingly cruel society and goes on a merry roadtrip with a teenage lunatic. I’m pleased to report there is much joy and bloodshed.
Pow!
Joel Murray and Tara Lynne Barr make for a compelling pairing. Adhering to stereotypes, if only to toy with the expectations of both the audience and each other. Whilst the main thrust of the story conforms to our base desires, we witness our heroes violently railing against society; in an agreeable manner. Blurring the lines between an odd-couple friendship, mentoring and the sexualisation of every teenage girl, contributes to an unclear narrative. It makes for a tremendous first watch. Giving an accomplished comedian the freedom to write and direct shines throughout the film, as the timing and pace of the movie allows for consistent laughs, even if the subject matter’s pretty depressing, and ever more relevant.
Oh, how we hate cruelty, until it’s against the “right” people.
Joel Murray… Bills brother… checks Wikipedia.. blimey he’s a Murray as well! Course he is, just look at him! There’s loads of ’em. How did I miss that!
Blimey, look at the size of that arm!
In an effort to cram in the inevitable crescendo, the story suffers from inconsistencies. The kind you’ll have to quietly blink through, less you go mad. But the tale itself, more than makes up for story fudges and the ending supplies a more than satisfactory conclusion.
A wonderful lil’ film that that encapsulates our time better than any speech or blog post. Unless it’s this one.