God Bless America

We all would like to zap those inconsiderate people who text, talk and use a cellphone. I also dislike the banality of pop culture. But whoa the film then proceeds to annihilate anyone whose political views do not agree with Bobcat Goldthwaites. They assassinate a "Fox-TV"-like commentator while jogging and then at the end in the final shooting spree Frank decries those, like the commentator who spread hate. Ironically I watched Bobcat on the Bill Maher show last week. Bill, unsurprisingly, praised the movie, but in reality he is also spreading divisiveness and hate.While I consider myself a moderate liberal I find the self righteousness of the extreme left as morally repugnant as the right wingers they portray. This movie does nothing to help the issues it portrays and just adds to divisiveness that is rampant in the US this election year. Avoid this movie at all costs.

This movie will make you feel much dirtier for having watched it. On a scale of 1-10, I give it a rating of about 10 showers for how dirty it makes you feel. It is violent, stupid, ill-conceived, manipulative and nasty on so many levels! The movie is a sort of "Falling Down" story, morphed into Goldthwait's insane murder fantasy with a high body count. There's no discernible humor in it. It's just so insanely violent, filthy, politicized, amateurish and ham-fisted that I wonder how it ever got made in the first place. Goldthwait opens up his mind and lets it flow across the screen like a sewer. There are lots of sermons and crude agitprop in this one; Goldthwait never misses any opportunity to mount his soapbox. His main agitprop maneuver is to confound personal bad qualities -- like the guy who belligerently parks across two parking spaces -- with right-wing politics, making them out to be one and the same. It's a hoary gimmick, dating back to at least "Jew Süss," the Nazi movie that equated being a child-beating, overbearing father with being Jewish. When I see the praise lavished on this horrifying dreck by ordinary viewers, it makes me think our country is as stupid, loud, mean and shallow as Goldthwait says it is. This mix of politicized agitprop with insane random violence could be a combo of Michael Moore and Quentin Tarantino on a really bad day.

Sometimes it is great to hate hate, and this movie provides a means to do just that. The main character, Frank, becomes the crusader for a lost sense of morality in world gone "bad". The movie redefines the definition of "Dark Humor" and has you cheering him on in his quest to right society's wrongs. It is definitely a budget movie, but that just adds to the gritty flavor of this theme. It is almost a latter day antithesis to a "Clockwork Orange" with a slight twist of "Bonnie and Clyde". If this movie does not have you thinking just the slightest bit about the shallowness of our society in an ADD media driven world, then you had better watch your back. Frank may be lurking around the next corner.

Hey Bobcat Goldthwait! I hate all the same crap about American culture as you do! You know what I else I hate? Bland cinematic litanies of crap that the filmmaker can't stand. I hate American movies that have no real narrative ambition except to bitch and plug the filmmaker's rantings into the mouth of his main character... over and over and over again. I hate movies about people who sit around in hotel rooms debating which music is cool and which isn't. I hate movies that don't even have the balls to be straight up exploitation, even though they're obviously fetishizing violence. I hate trite pieces of cinema with no true center. I hate it when a protagonist in a movie is saddled with the rhetoric of decency, yet doesn't do anything proactive at all until he turns to violence. He doesn't turn off the shrieking TV and read a book during his late night bouts with insomnia. He doesn't assert himself like a self- respecting human being on his douchey neighbors or take command of his own life in any way, until he does so through violence. So really, he's just as weak and lost in our "uncivilized society" as anyone else in the flick. And ultimately, for his unearned high moral ground, just as annoying. Uninspired, unambitious, ethically-muddled, satirically challenged, broadly realized cinema is just as much a part of the problem as bitches with cellphones in movie theaters. Bobcat "Get off my lawn" Goldthwait, it's not that your hyperbolic vision of America doesn't have some truth to it, it's that we deserve a far more intelligent and interesting attack on what's wrong with our selfish/media-addicted/materialist society than this.

Hands-Up question: how many of you reading this, have ever fantasized about killing someone who acted extraordinarily rude? I mean, seriously fantasizing about it and enjoying the thought, killing the obnoxious loud neighbors, the person who just stole your parking spot and especially the bully who picks on the weak to make himself look strong? I got good and bad news for those who raised their hands: the good news is the protagonists of this movie do just that, spreading the message that if you are spreading fears, are a hater of "..." or just without decency in regards to the people around you, watch out - you might get shot in the head. The bad news is that that if you catch yourself dreaming about killing rude or obnoxious people regularly, say once a week, you are actually a borderline-psychopath and are very likely to behave violent towards others at some future point of time. Well, the protagonists cross the border from frequent fantasy to reality. Do we empathize with the protagonist or with their actions or is it a bit of both? I actually think everyone empathizes with the message and the movie might make the viewer act much nicer and with more decency to anyone he meets. Well, it might at least for the next 60 minutes, until the short-attention span generation forgets to be nice and goes back to elbowing. My vote for this dark but with precise presentation of the state of mind of many members of society: 10 of 10.

I wrote a review earlier explaining what the movie depicts in simple terms and they deleted my review. So if the explanation isn't worth displaying on this site you can guess what the movie depicts. Its just liberal BS, but instead of smoking pot and sleeping around this time they are wielding guns. The movie describes in very clear terms every liberals sweetest wet dream, so if you wanna know what they are like you gotta watch this movie. Oh and guess what, they don't mind carrying banners condoning all their deviant acts but get offended by reviews like these. By all means watch the movie, show it to your kids and tell them why they should be wary of these people.

Bobcat Goldthwait's latest feature as writer & director is a hilarious & articulately written black comedy commentary on contemporary American culture, or lack thereof. Yes, mass media's influence on the devolution of society has been tackled before (Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers & Euros Lyn's Fifteen Million Merits, for example) and the script has it's issues (which are plausibility/suspension of disbelief related IMO) but the dialogue does have monologues & diatribes that I think really do shine. The acting is FTW, and the whole small budget meets meaningful repartee feel of the piece threw me back to Mark Osbourne's 2000 film "Dropping Out". Most definitely catch it if you can! 8D

This movie is great,intelligent,funny at times,saddening at other times. Acting by Joel Murray was brilliant.I don't recognize Ms Tara Lynne Barr but I predict for her a bright full acting career. The movie asks why American people turned into aggressive,mean,unrelenting,hellbent on hurting others creatures. And why American children became ill-behaved,spoiled,nightmare begins. It may force to think about things in live,or it may not.it all depends on your character,your way of life. But believe me,you should watch that movie.

The problem with many reviews is that we seek to 'analyse' and not just accept. We look for hidden agendas instead of just taking something at face value. This film is a gem...the main character and his life were easily acceptable and plausible and his outlook on modern American life whilst predictable, knowing the movie's theme...was perfectly understandable. There is a wonderful dark humour running throughout the story and whilst it does stretch the imagination boundaries at times you think to yourself 'so what ..I'm enjoying it'. I could not think of one victim in this film that I also wouldn't have minded bumping off and Tara Lynne Barr is perfect as Frank's young accomplice. One of my favourite scenes involved Frank's visit to his doctor but then I always did have a twisted sense of humour. I recommend you watch this if only as a release valve for your pent up frustrations with modern society and TV talent shows.

I love this movie, Don't get me wrong its a little under budget but I think the message gets across and is true!!! I wish everyone I know would watch this movie. I think this movie knows its place and is written and directed as so. I can't wait to recommend this to all my friends. I like the actors they feel real for the story line and do the things we all wish we could do. I can only hope a film like this can shake up people and not just shrug it off as a small film. This film does tackle a lot of social problems that exist in society today. This is not a JUNO film!! This has a touch of reality that America wants to deny and a extreme that seems to escape every one as it is rubbed in your face over and over again and the easier the lie the easier we swallow