Trigger Happy

by Thomas Willett

12:00am PST, April 12, 2012

What makes Bobcat Goldthwait a brilliant director is his fearlessness. His movies have dealt with alcoholic clowns, bestiality, and teenage suicide in dark, uncompromising manners. Even while going out of control, his ability to wrangle in every story with the human condition has made for some of the most perverse and challenging comedies in recent history. How does he step up his game for God Bless America? By having the protagonist fantasize about shooting an infant within the first three minutes.

It opens the movie with a literal bang and sets up everything to come as less shocking. The story revolves around Frank (Joel Murray), whose life is headed in a downward spiral. After losing his job and being diagnosed with a tumor, he spends his days watching TV and lamenting about the ineptness of social decency. When he sees one too many spoiled teenagers, he decides to go on a killing spree. Along the way, he’s joined by a young girl named Roxy (Tara Lynn Barr), whose vulgar hatred of stupid culture compliments Frank’s views into an awkward Bonnie and Clyde relationship.

What makes the satire work is the rules. While many of their victims include celebrities, they were portrayed as mean spirited individuals. Goldthwait’s dark satire doesn’t come from general hatred. Instead, it’s a vendetta against ignorance that helps the fantasy feel more honest. While his views on politics and culture are on display, he shows restraint by limiting the shock factor to important moments. This helps his message to sink in and helps to humanize the characters as their friendship becomes more complicated.

If there is any fault, it’s that Frank and Roxie sound very similar to Goldthwait. Those familiar with his stand-up can notice his routines being framed into the conversation. This causes occasional moments of unrealistic banter. The Roxie character sways between being overly mature and youthful, only being balanced by a sense of vulnerable naivety. Frank’s rationality is more grounded and helps the anarchic nature work. Despite all of this, they remain the sanest characters and some of the most fascinating antiheroes of the year.

The reason that this movie works is because it is confident. The characters may sometimes be hypocritical, but they have goals. The movie also works to polarize the audience by being straightforward with the message. Depending on the views, the actions can either be seen as glorifying violence or commenting on how warped American society is. Depending on your perception of violence, this is either hilarious escapism or unnecessary. The outcome reveals that no one is right, no matter how it’s done. Frank and Roxie may be fun characters, but when the credits roll, they are still murderers.

This movie serves as a love letter to the ideal America. It wants a world of open communication and common decency. A place where the human holds more significance than a cell phone. These are the things that Frank fights for. He doesn’t fight his own personal prejudices, but people being rude. He wants a society that functions properly. By being bold in choice, Goldthwait has made one of the most authentically patriotic assaults on America with excellent results.

He is successful in being honest and giving a realistic conclusion to a ridiculous story. Thanks to great performances from Joel Murray and Tara Lynn Barr, this serves as the perfect black comedy that also has significance. It looks at society and dares for change through aggressive action. Because of the straightforward, violent nature, the message may be hard to perceive by most viewers, but those who find the significance will appreciate everything it does right, warts and all. This is the type of bold filmmaking that most comedies are lacking these days. It’s not propaganda, but a plea for the viewer to help make a better society.