Director Sean Baker’s exhilarating dark comedy is about an unlovable loser and washed-up porn star Mikey Saber (Simon Rex), who shows up broke and beaten-up back in his Texas hometown looking for a place to crash with his ex-wife (excellent Bree Elrod) and her disapproving mother. Mikey weasels his way in and ends up selling weed to earn money, romancing a sweet 17-year-old girl named Strawberry (Suzanna Son) who works at the Donut Hole, filling her head with his bullshit while equally sleeping with his ex and using the goofy neighbor next door to drive him around. Set in 2016, the TV in the background drones about the upcoming Presidential election between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump and the witty use of NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” punctuates this sordid saga of un-redemption.
Baker’s films from Tangerine to The Florida Project are usually wallows in the world of the disenfranchised, marginalized and outlaw aspects of society and this is no different. What I love about Baker is that he’s never cynical about his characters. He doesn’t pull any punches or paint them better than they are, but there’s definitely some compassion and humor there.
Simon Rex is an inspired choice in the lead. The former TV VJ who has his own X-rated brush with infamy has a wonderful, weathered, weary presence in the film. He’s a con man, ready to bluster and lie but also desperately able to dream on despite the crushing odds against him. It’s a story about a real dick but it sure rises to paint a darkly humorous, poignant portrait of lives forever dancing on the razor’s edge.
