Review of God Bless America (2012) by Mike A — 23 Jan 2013

This film is a brilliant dark comedy. The cinematography is great, especially the opening sequence using the sweeping aerial shots (reminiscent of the same technique used in Minority Report (2002)) between houses.

The dialogue is snappy and hilarious, but can feel preachy at times. This film is utterly self indulgent, but humorously and delightfully so. This film gives voice to the disenfranchised and the disillusioned with modern western society's triviality and banality.

Performances are great and Joel Murray as Frank and Tara Lynne Barr as Roxy bring to life characters that might otherwise have been puppets for political satire. The soundtrack is just amazing and compliments the slow motion and gory shots perfectly, adding a self-aware ironic touch to the violence.

This film is the Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Gun Crazy (1950) of the 2000s. There are explicit references to Bonnie and Clyde (1967) in particular. The film is a brilliant piece of cinematic homage and includes many references using clips from films and tv shows throughout.

Despite the fact that the film may be overloaded with Goldthwait's agenda is a great piece of cinema, thoroughly enjoyable and depressingly funny.