Sean Baker’s ‘Red Rocket’: portrait of a narcissist

Above : Simon Rex stars in Sean Baker’s film “Red Rocket.” (Photo/A24)

Movie review : “Red Rocket,” co-written and directed by Sean Baker, starring Simon Rex, Susanna Son, Bree Elrod, Brenda Deiss, Ethan Darbonne, Judy Hill. Screening at AMC River Park Square.

When a filmmaker you admire makes a misstep, it can come as a crushing disappointment. Such was my experience with Sean Baker and his new film “Red Rocket.”

I’ve seen two of Baker’s previous films, 2015’s “Tangerine” and 2017’s “The Florida Project,” and I am a fan of both. This is partly because of how well they are made but even more so because of how well Baker walks the delicate line between exploring controversial material and portraying basic humanity.

“Tangerine” delves into the world of transgender sex workers, as touchy a topic as you’re apt to find even in a polarized 2022 America. “The Florida Project” follows the hard life of a single, unemployed woman and her six-year-old daughter struggling daily to get by – all seen through the eyes of the child.

What makes both films watchable is Baker’s ability both to add humor to his storylines and, overall, never to lose a sense of pathos for the characters whose experiences he is studying. Regardless of what those characters do, illegal or unethical, Baker portrays them as simply human – bearing the same hopes, dreams and desires as the rest of us. And while they may at times take advantage of others, Baker manages to give the impression that meanness or manipulation isn’t part of their basic natures. Only the intersection of choice, chance and circumstance has shaped their lives.

Not so with Mikey, the character portrayed by Simon Rex in “Red Rocket” (which Baker co-wrote with Chris Bergoch ). A former porn star, who boasts of having won multiple porn-movie awards, Mikey – when we meet him – has hit hard times. Nearly broke, still bearing the bruises of a recent beating, Mikey has returned to his former home, a small Texas town near the city of Galveston, on the state’s Gulf Coast.

He shows up unannounced at the house of his estranged wife Lexi (played by Bree Elrod) and her mother Lil (played by Brenda Deiss), hoping to convince them to put him up for a while – just, you know, until he can get back on track. He’ll help out, he promises, both around the house and by getting a job so he can share the monthly bills.

But doing anything, from mowing the lawn or even washing out a glass, proves too much of a challenge for Mikey. And getting a job, any job, proves difficult for someone who’s spent the last two decades working in the, um, adult-entertainment industry.

So pretty soon Mikey is spending time with the next-door neighbor Lonnie (played by Ethan Darbonne) and selling weed for the local marijuana dealer Leondria (played by Judy Hill). Meanwhile, he spies the improbably named Strawberry, a 17-year-old doughnut-shop worker played by Suzanna Son and, one, is smitten by her Lolita-like charms and, two, begins to see her as his way back into the porn biz.

Throughout, Mikey takes advantage of everyone. An inveterate liar, Mikey is the classic narcissist, someone whose sociopathy is so ingrained that anyone he comes in contact with is bound, ultimately, to suffer the consequences.

And that’s the flaw with “Red Rooster.” If Mikey had a single redeeming virtue, one aspect of his character that was admirable – even the slightest bit likeable – then he might warrant the same kind of consideration as those characters in Baker’s previous films. But nothing about Mikey, from his incessant lying to his willingness both to avoid the consequences of his actions and to give into his predatory nature, makes him worthy of a pass.

It is possible to find something of value in otherwise despicable characters. Even if you haven’t seen Baker’s other movies, consider what Quentin Tarantino did in 1994’s “Pulp Fiction.” Tarantino gives hired killers Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega (played, respectively, by Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta) a sense of ethics – the so-called honor among thieves – that helps us overlook the fact that, at base, they’re both cold-blooded assassins.

In “Red Rocket,” Mikey’s only ethical stance is self-preservation. Why anyone – especially an otherwise talented filmmaker – would consider making a movie featuring such a guy is a mystery. At least to me.

Then again, considering all that has gone on since 2016, Baker has made what may be the perfect fable for our time.