God Bless America is a dark but effective satire: until the final 30 minutes. Director Bobcat Goldthwait finds some scathing, dark truths about the role of television and entitlement in our society. However, his points lose steam as they repeatedly are shown in graphic detail as the movie progresses. By the time the climax rolls around, I was desensitized to the message due to sensory overload, exactly what Goldthwait was trying to avoid.
Frank (Joel Murray) has hit rock bottom. He is living next door to a baby that doesn’t sleep. His escape, TV, is filled with self-important talentless individuals. His daughter has become a living version of what he sees on TV, and he just got fired because he sent a girl flowers (he got her address from the company address book) because she was having a bad day. All of these factors cause Frank to snap: he decides to go on a killing spree murdering people who do not act like civilized, decent citizens. Along the way he attracts Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr), a teenager who is equally upset with today’s society as he is.
The first 30 minutes of God Bless America is as good as the first 30 minutes of any movie this year. There are some brilliant “recreations” of some of the reality TV shows that accurately depict how an episode of the show might exist. Also, the co-worker dialogue is fairly spot on: people accept making fun of a semi-mentally challenged character on an American Idol type show, however, when Frank rants about how no one has any rational thoughts anymore, making a true point, he is viewed as weird and a threat, creating an uneasy tension in the office. These scenes strike a bitter chord inside of us all, and while not rationalizing Frank’s actions, certainly provide context to his thought process.
Things start to fall apart with the appearance of Roxy (not because of Barr, who is spunky enough to provide energy to the role). The story feels its important to develop a relationship between the two, and their evolution is handled by having different versions of the same conversation: how Frank doesn’t want to see Roxy as an adult. Some of the scenes work well, like when Frank teaches Roxy how to shoot a gun, but scenes like that happen every other moment. And with the message being repeated, the impact and payoff of the relationship development peaks somewhere in the middle of the movie. At that point, the movie is just spinning its wheels until the final act, which doesn’t have the impact the start of the movie suggests.
None of this is really due to the two leads. Joel Murray does a good job portraying a fed up everyman. His changes in personality are believable, and his chemistry with Tara Lynne Barr is solid. Barr was nicely perky and direct being Roxy. She sells the in between age for her awakening as a sexual person but still remains naive enough to also be a child/sidekick. It keeps the relationship sort of interesting at the start.
Do not be fooled by the patriotic title. God Bless America is a very sinister, sad look at what has become of the American society today. It has a point to make, and hammers it into your brain with a blunt object. God Bless America should make you rethink your on demand archives. Maybe get rid of shows like Toddlers and Tiaras, and go out and really talk to someone.