Movie Review by Matthew Schuchman
About 12 years ago, the Japanese film Battle Royale was “banned” from being sold here in the states for its unapologetic depiction of kids, killing kids. Now, since Hollywood is doing it with The Hunger Games, it’s okay. In this new climate, how will God Bless America (a film about a man and a teenage girl on a killing spree) fare with audiences? Who knows, but the important thing is to look at all the layers, not just the surface. God Bless America is oddly defending all the crap it takes aim at, and if you’re not careful, you’ll miss the point.
Frank just wants some peace and quiet. He’s divorced, his daughter doesn’t want to spend time with him because there are no video games at his house, his neighbors are loud and inconsiderate, and his dead end job is nothing more to him than a chatter box full of people talking about what happened last night on “The House Husbands of Orange County’s Real World Extreme Dance Off Factor of Fear.” When Frank gets the news he has an inoperable brain tumor, his anger and disgust with the world of today hits a boiling point.
Frank decides to hunt down and murder the subject of a, whiny rich girl who has everything given to her and acts like a snot, type show and incidentally meets Roxy, a teenage girl who is glad Frank took out the spiteful brat who received fame for being a bitch. Roxy follows Frank and convinces him he is doing good work and should continue to rid the world of scum. The two then set out on a cross country killing spree with the goal of taking down the epicenter of TV’s haven of hate and fame whoring, “American Superstarz.”
Even for diehard supporters of God Bless America, it’s admittedly a hard pill to swallow at first. Maybe it was because I saw it the day after the school shooting in Ohio, and now being so close in the time-frame to the soldier that killed 16 innocent Afghans, and the Treyvon Martin incident; I would not hold anyone back from getting upset with the contents of this movie. The actions of Frank and Roxy are presented in an outrageous manner, yet I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the images a truly unhinged person would see in their head. Still, God Bless America is in no way glorifying the situations contained.
The brilliance of the film is it perfectly illustrates writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait’s disgust and despair with what our society has become, while defending every little bit of it. There’s a Bill O’Reilly character in the film that garners Frank and Roxy’s attention. Bill O’Reilly I’m sure will have a thing or two to say about God Bless America, and how its distasteful humor is what’s wrong with the world and it shouldn’t be seen by anyone, but therein lay the cornerstone. The same general freedom every American will rely upon quoting every time they are told they’re wrong for expressing their feelings, is the same freedom that allows Bobcat to make this film. You don’t have to agree with it and you don’t have to like it, but you can’t ask for it not to be shown anymore than you can request Bill O’Reilly be taken off the air.
For the most part, I agree with Bobcat on a lot of things. Reality television needs to die and our insatiable hunger to be famous has to be stopped. It’s obvious this is a large part of what was meant to be said. The larger picture however, is what’s important; God Bless America is a test. It challenges you to draw a line between what is acceptable and what isn’t. You’ll find it’s hard to define anything properly after you see it.
Rating: 3 and a half out of 5 ‘Staches
Just watched god bless america, and I loved it. I’m sure most folks will not get it and will call format to be banned, or maybe someone will use it as inspiration to go out and imitate the movies antics (which may or may not be a good thing, depending on who they choose to take out).
This is a great, blackest of black comedy. Bobcat has always dome things from the edge, and this movie is no different. I hope everyone sees it, even though it will go directly over the heads of most. If it only serves to show people how stupid our country has become, then it is a landmark production. I only wish it was a true story. So come on all you wanna be famous idiots, get crackin. This is the movie to imitate if you want to get you fifteen minutes of fame in. I’m sure it would pay well too, and think of all the media coverage you would get! All the money you would get too! Get out there and play God Bless America for yourself. You will be famous and rich in no time, and you could take out all the annoying idiots that have been holding you back all these years. They deserve it, and they deserve You!!!