The Movie Waffler New Release Review - God Bless America | The Movie Waffler

New Release Review - God Bless America

Directed by: Bobcat Goldthwait
Starring: Joel Murray, Tara Lynne Barr, Mackenzie Brooke Smith

Diagnosed with a tumour, Murray sets off on a murderous rampage, killing those he blames for society's ills while accompanied by like-minded teen Barr.
With his charming directorial debut "Sleeping Dogs Lie", comedian turned film-maker Goldthwait preached tolerance. I'm not sure what happened to him over the last few years but here he's spouting a vile message of intolerance. Leopold and Loeb couldn't have come up with such a self-indulgent liberal intellectual superiority fantasy.
Last year with "Midnight In Paris", Woody Allen showed us how despite our frustrations with modern culture, the grass is never greener on the other side. There's no convincing Goldthwait of this, his fantasy grass is lush and emerald. He wants us to sympathise with Murray as he massacres those who represent the worst of contemporary pop culture. The character sits in front of his TV constantly scorning the garbage he flicks through. Somebody should have told him about those things called DVD's which contain almost the entire history of film and TV for your viewing pleasure. If you don't like reality TV, DON'T WATCH IT!
At one point Murray guns down a young retarded man. His crime? Exploiting his lack of intelligence to become a success on "American Superstars" a popular talent show. Just like Goldthwait himself so. In case you don't know who Goldthwait is, he found fame in the eighties by playing a retarded character in the "Police Academy" movies. In the nineties he once set fire to the stage while a guest on Jay Leno. But now that he wears black-rimmed glasses we're supposed to forget all that? "Liberal hypocrisy" is a phrase I find myself using a lot in reference to recent American cinema.
For someone who made an entire movie about accepting bestiality, Goldthwait expresses a lot of sexual hangups here. He uses Barr's character to preach hatred of "paedophiles" despite the fact that she's a grown woman not a child. Those who rant so much about the sexual preferences of others usually have a few issues with their own.
At one point our Bonnie and Brevik duo profess a desire to live in France because we all know there's no reality TV in Europe right? If Goldthwait is so unhappy with his country maybe he should move to China and make culturally "important" films for the state. But of course he proudly claims to make films for himself first and his audience second. Only in America!
2/10
I'll leave you with a video of some of the highlights of this culture Nazi's previous career...