#18 - God Bless America (2011) Review

God Bless America (2011), Bobcat Goldthwait
4/5

This film is a brilliant dark comedy. The cinematography is great, especially the opening sequence using the sweeping aerial shots (reminiscent of the same technique used in Minority Report (2002)) between houses. The dialogue is snappy and hilarious, but can feel preachy at times. This film is utterly self indulgent, but humorously and delightfully so. This film gives voice to the disenfranchised and the disillusioned with modern western society's triviality and banality. Performances are great and Joel Murray as Frank and Tara Lynne Barr as Roxy bring to life characters that might otherwise have been puppets for political satire. The soundtrack is just amazing and compliments the slow motion and gory shots perfectly, adding a self-aware ironic touch to the violence. This film is the Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Gun Crazy (1950) of the 2000s. There are explicit references to Bonnie and Clyde (1967) in particular. The film is a brilliant piece of cinematic homage and includes many references using clips from films and tv shows throughout. Despite the fact that the film may be overloaded with Goldthwait's agenda is a great piece of cinema, thoroughly enjoyable and depressingly funny.

***SPOILERS***

(including spoilers for Bonnie and Clyde)

I had some criticisms with the choice to make Frank (Joel Murray) dying with a inoperable brain tumour, but was glad that the plot twist was used that it turned out there was a mix up with the results and that he doesn't have a tumor. If Frank was dying it would have felt very Walter White from  Breaking Bad and given the character a somewhat more sympathetic note and excusability for his behaviour. Film and literature tend to denote that imminent death grants some behavioural licence to characters, while still granting the audience the permissibility of judging them. Instead the choice to make it that Frank is healthy and revealed late in the film adds the banality and absurdity, fitting perfectly with the subjectmatter itself. 

The film also is an interesting 'remake' or homage to Gun Crazy (1950) and Bonnie and Clyde (1967) (which is a remake of Gun Crazy). Frank even jokes to Roxy when she brings back the thrift shop hats that she looks very "Faye Dunaway". The scene in the cinema in particular is also somewhat reminiscent of Breathless (1983) (itself a remake of the French film by Jean-Luc Godard A bout de souffle (Breathless) (1960)) where Jesse (Richard Gere) and Monica (Valerie Kaprisky) sneak into the back of the theatre where Gun Crazy (1950) is playing, adding to the layers of intertextuality. 

Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Gun Crazy (Deadly in the Female) (1950)

A Bour de Souffle (Breathless) (1960) Breathless (1983)

What is interesting about God Bless America (2011) as an adaptation of the vigilante couple is that it somewhat reworks both character and gender aspects. While is doesn't do much with racial elements, it does play with age as Frank is much older than the typical 'handsome' vigilante/ anti-hero and Roxy is supposed to a teenager and much younger. The dynamic between Frank and Roxy is great and plays similar to Bonnie and Clyde (1967) whereby the woman is depicted as sexually agressive and the man as impotent. However unlike Bonnie and Clyde where Clyde (Warren Beatty) finally consummates the relationship with Bonnie (Faye Dunaway) thus resolving his 'impotency' once Bonnie assumes a more traditional feminine role of submissiveness. At the end however Clyde is still intimidated by Bonnie's aggressiveness and their relationship fails as she struggles to assume a modern integration of femininity whereby she can be both strong and sexual. God Bless America rejects some aspects of that dynamic although there are strong allusions to the potentiality of a sexual relationship between Frank and Roxy. Thankfully the film resists the cliche instead commenting on notions that young girls are the epitome of modern male desire, although some shots later in the film negate this notion. Another aspect that is intriguing is the pseudo sexual relationship between Roxy and Frank, or as Roxy puts it "so we're platonic spree killers?". This calling out by Roxy is an explicit statement of the situation that is unspoken in Bonnie and Clyde whereby Bonnie propositions Clyde for sex and is rejected, thus they become "platonic spree killers" or at least partners in crime. Also Roxy asks Frank whether he thinks she is pretty to which Frank goes on a rant about idealisation of youth and young girls etc and adamantly refuses to answer. Unfortunately at the end when Roxy randomly and inexplicably shows up he says "you are a pretty girl" which may seem cute and sort of somewhat fulfills their relationship, but really just kind of alludes to the pandering of a young girls insecurity. It is still acceptable as it nicely depicts a sort of resolution of their "friendship" as Frank makes an allowance, much as he gradually opened up to her throughout the film. For instance he finally succumbs to sleeping in the bed next to her, and then later allows her to massage his hands. 

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

God Bless America (2011)

While some may scoff at the violence of this film and claim that it advocates or encourages violence especially banal violence, I think the film does a good enough job of explaining that the message is the exact opposite and those that think this film purports violence have missed the point entirely and become the farcical people the film sets out to mock. The film adamantly continues to defy any sort of anarchistic notions of the banality of killing, instead re-iterating time and time again by Frank that "mean" people and only "people who deserve to die" should be killed. While this ties in with conventional morality and will placate audiences, it falls victim to the age old "subconscious" morals of cinema that began in the days of the studio system. Whereby violence and sex were made permissible in films so long as the characters with morally "reprehensible behaviour" (so deemed by right wing conservatives of the time) were "punished" in the film either by death or by the law. In fact the conservatives probably enjoyed the more extreme behaviours permitted under this unwritten code as it allowed stronger "morals" to be conveyed to the masses. (Thus, Goldthwait would probably be pleased that right wing conservatives hated God Bless America.) So unfortunately God Bless America is kind of conventional in that way, and Frank and Roxy are quite traditional moralistic vigilantes only killing those who deserve it and both are killed at the end (although this is merely implied, yet surely the inevitable outcome. It is however important to note that Goldthwait did not directly show them dying as this rejects the notion of their punishment instead, interestingly ending on what seems to be a POV shot of the theatre ceiling.)

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

God Bless America (2011)

Some of the strongest aspects of the film are the twists and turns of the media and that despite what Frank and Roxy do or the reasons for their murders, the media twists it around to serve it's own purposes. The film beautifully exposes the state of absurd irrationality in mainstream media in America at the moment. The irony of this film is that while on the surface it may seem utterly garish and violent and silly it is in fact quite traditionally moralistic and conventional in many ways. People die (for the most part) only if they deserve it, the killers are killed themselves at the end, Frank forgives Roxy's lie to show his growth as a character. And also their gender conventions are rather static, as Frank paints the stereotypical middle aged white man and Roxy is the perky if somewhat smart mouthed "pretty" young girl. Although there is enough in the dialogue and subtext to threaten these surface details. Such as Frank calling Roxy "Juno" as a reference to the film Juno both as a dig at Roxy's character in the film while also being a comment on the fact that Roxy's character herself fits the same mould.