God Bless America (2012)

A Disappointing Continuation

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Blistering performances.

God Bless America: I had originally watched this movie in 2011 and again recently. It's a satirical look at the decline of society and the levels to which morals and standards have fallen. It centers around a middle aged man, Frank who grinds at his 9-5 job and whilst dealing with seemingly unresolvable issues in his personal life, increasingly gets disillusioned by what he sees as the downward spiral of society wherein attributes such as narcissism, unintelligence, selfishness, shallowness, and uncouthness that were once traditionally discouraged and derided by humans, are celebrated and rewarded. Wherever he turns, he's bombarded with images of talentless, cruel and abhorrent individuals that are put on a pedestal and slapped with the "celebrity" label. Ratings and money is all that matters. Frank takes it upon himself to rid society of these repulsive individuals and with the unlikely help of a 16 year old sidekick embarks on a killing spree. Considering that this movie was released before slay queens on social media; before the Lil Tays & Waoh Vickys; before Donald Trump's unconventional and controversial presidential campaign; I would say whilst God Bless America may have been considered an exaggerated description of society back then it is undoubtedly eerily prophetic of society today.

Wonderful dark film about what was wrong with America, of course now even more poignant with "Grab the Pussy" Trump being the President. Excellent acting from both leads. Tara Lynne Barr hilarious and brilliant as the potty mouthed teen. After all why should you have to come from a broken home to be sick of the way life is ? Joel Murray is fantastic as the ordinary guy who has had enough. The way he has enough is portrayed so well by him. Just the way he looks and sighs is worth 10 minutes of hysterical over-reaction by some other actor. He also isn't a buffed-up hero type, he just has dreadful taste in clothes, the cardigan with the squirrels or deer on it (I think) had me laughing regardless of the plot. I especially like the way their relationship deepened throughout the film. I have watched this film several times and it just gets better every time. Spoiler: Even the end of the film was great - you actually felt uplifted at the end, knowing they were happy in what they had done.

Wasn't expecting anything when I stumbled upon this.Quite low-key, small budget.What a brilliant, hilarious film.The interaction between the 2 protagonists is wonderful.Plenty of throw away lines, and slick references.Plus the added bonus of mindless visceral violence.Don't agree with all protagonists' view points, but there's enough there to keep you engaged. And after all it's a (dark) comedy.A very enjoyable way of spending 1h 45m.So, if you have a couple of spare hours, give this little gem a whirl.You could do a lot worse.

God Bless America is a violent black comedy mixed with a satire of modern-day life in America, directed and written by that annoyingly squeaky-voiced guy from the POLICE ACADEMY films, no less. While this wasn't perhaps as good as I was hoping for - it's a little too crude, and perhaps not as clever as it thinks it is - it's hard to resist a film that successfully lampoons the current state of America (and the western world in general). It also feels very similar to the superhero spoof, SUPER.Joel Murray gives a sympathetic turn as a guy who's reached the end of his tether, although he's no Michael Douglas in FALLING DOWN. I did like Tara Lynne Barr's fresh-faced role as the girl who ends up joining with him. There's a lot of extreme violence here, but it's less impressive than you'd expect and becomes a little repetitive. The put-downs aimed at various celebrity figures and institutions and the various references for genre fans are far better and keep the film moving along until the inevitable - and somewhat predictable - climax.