On RED ROCKET

 This movie could have been called A STAR IS PORN.  For three wonderful years, I worked under the Viacom/CBS corporate umbrella. I was a daily veejay and celebrity talk show host on VH1 which, back in the late 80s when I worked there, was sort of the "older sibling" in music, tone and programming to MTV. In the 1990s, MTV had a veejay named Simon Rex. It was discovered that he'd been a porn star who made adult films that were popular with a gay male audience. He didn't have co-stars in his films. He was seen in, what would be called, "hot solo action." This news sent MTV executives into a tizzy, having vapors over what this scandal could do to MTV's reputation. Well, nothing much happened. Remember, this was about the time when Madonna was posing naked on street corners for her SEX book.

Simon Rex now stars in an indie film called RED ROCKETS, written and directed by Sean Baker. Baker gave us one of my favorite films of 2015, the comedy/drama TANGERINE. It follows a Black transgender sex worker in the low-rent Hollywood area at Christmastime. She discovers her pimp/boyfriend has been cheating on her. RED ROCKETS does not tell as interestingly detailed a story as TANGERINE. Nevertheless, it is loopy and lively. Critics raved about Simon Rex's performance as the loser who returns by bus to the small Texas town he'd left 15 years earlier. He went to Los Angeles and became a porn star who once won an award. Hardly anyone is glad to see him return to Texas. He winds up living with his ex-wife, regaling guys with endless tales of his porn career coupled with dreams of making a comeback. He winds up selling pot out of a donut shop and dating a high school girl. Mikey Saber (Rex) has a big Foghorn Leghorn-like personality, he's irresponsible, mostly unskilled and doesn't realize he's on a road to nowhere. 

Simon Rex deserved those rave reviews. What a surprise. Here's a trailer. 

Justin Chang of VARIETY, one of the best film critics in the business, wrote that "Simon Rex gives the performance of his career."

Rex's previous screen credits include SCARY MOVIE 3, SCARY MOVIE 4, SCARY MOVIE 5, STUDENT BODIES and HALLOWEED.