God Bless America

Ok seriously Mr. Goldthwaith, where are the hidden cameras you had placed in my house? From the very first time I saw the trailer for Bobcat Goldthwait's God Bless America, I've been dying to see it. A guy who gets fed up with the garbage reality television programs that are currently running almost 24/7 on every single network these days, and decides to go on a murder spree? I mean sure, there have been movies made about me before, but this one? This hits pretty damn close to home..except no murder sprees for me. Yet.

Frank is pretty down on his luck, he's divorced, his kid doesn't want much to do with him, he's lost his job, and to top it all off he just found out he has brain cancer. As if all that weren't bad enough, there seems to be nothing but "reality" programs on television. When one particular show, in the vein of MTV's "My Super Sweet 16" sends him over the edge, he steals his obnoxious neighbor's brand new "Bumblebee" Corvette and takes matters into his own hands. When Frank gets spotted by a teenage girl, she follows him to a hotel, where she learns of his plan to rid the world of the ignorant, racist, mean-spirited people that currently plague society, she joins the cause and the two go on a murder spree across the country.

Ok, so I was kidding a little bit about the murdering thing, I don't want to murder people. But I am fed up with the American Idols, Jersey Shores, Real Housewives, and the like that flood basic cable these days, so I get where Frank is coming from. Particularly when Frank goes to work and almost every single person there is talking about what happened on the movie's version of American Idol the night before. The difference between Frank and I though, is for some reason he actually engages one of these morons and attempts to offer a different perspective on the show. Me? I just accept the fact that people as a general rule are stupid, and will watch and accept as entertainment whatever their television tells them is entertainment.

On the surface, God Bless America is a dark comedy, but at it's heart it's a sad look at the unfortunate turn the entertainment industry in this country has taken since the advent of reality television. I blame MTV and it's "The Real World" shows. Of course, The Real World seems classy when you hold it up againt shit like Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, and Bad Girls. God Bless America won't be for everybody based on some of it's content. It's a well written, well shot, well acted film, but it goes without saying that it's also going to be a controversial film. For those of us who get it, it's absolutely fantastic, for the rest of the world it's probably going to offend.

For the people I know who will be reading this, I can't recommend this movie enough. It's entertaining, easily relatable, and there are scenes that literally had me applauding. I honestly can't believe there aren't a million other movies like this out there yet. This is easily the best work I've seen from Bobcat Goldthwait to date, and I dig anything he does. That being said, if there's anything comparable, I'm not aware of it and please feel free to direct me toward it. I can't wait to add this to my dvd collection, I see many, many more viewings of this film in my future. Check it out!