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God Bless America, Movie

God Bless America 2011

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Taking out the trash, one jerk at a time.

In this dark satire, a dissatisfied American on the verge of suicide finds a better use for his life: grabbing a handgun and ridding society of its most repulsive citizens. From iconic comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, star of Police Academy 2 through 4 and writer/director of World’s Greatest Dad. More

Frank (Joel Murray) has had enough of the downward spiral of American culture. Divorced, recently fired, and possibly terminally ill, Frank feels he has nothing left to live for. However, instead of taking his own life, he embarks on a killing spree with cohort Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr), a 16-year-old who shares his sense of rage. Together, they embark on a nation-wide assault on the United States' dumbest, most irritating celebrities. Hide

37 votes / 13 comments The Talk

  • 78 %

    Want to See it

    What say you?

    • Hoddy

      Yeah great thing for americans to see is more things like this to imitate.

    • chris

      Hmmm worse than a movie with one joke, this is a movie with the same joke over and over...

    • Brad

      looks funny as imo

    • Anka

      Who came up with the idea to make a movie that glorifies mass shooters?

    • John

      I see the thought police are already in action. See the film for serious commentary on the world today!

    • Wininz

      Seriously... after all the shootings that have occurred, someone wants to make it a joke! COMPLETE DUMFUX!

    • RexH

      This reminds me of "M?an Bites Dog"... It was also a satire (not a comedy)

    • awsome

      its americas own fult that there is so many shootings this movie only highlights that fact

    • Sam Swan

      Hot damn - about time!

    • ha ha

      this is a cool concept

    • Gerd

      Looking at the massive stupidity of the average American thy certainly have a lot of work to do.

    • Stephen

      Is this being sold back to people who only have the creativity to let someone else imagine this reality? Falling down 2?

    • sam

      Oh yea!!!

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Flicks.co.nz Review

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Dominic Corry Flicks Writer

Joel Murray (Bill's bro, Freddy Rumsen in Mad Men) has one of those faces you instantly recognise, but take a while to place. This positions him well as the 'everyman' at the centre of this film, although his performance is pretty glum. Plus in a post-Breaking Bad world, the terminal cancer diagnosis that partially inspires his rampage feels rote. More

As the teenage sidekick that joins Murray on his violent vendetta against contemporary bugaboos, Tara Lynne Barr has a lot more energy, and it's undeniable fun watching them do things like waste a guy who takes up two parking spaces.

The rash of recent shootings in America casts something of a pall over the proceedings, but I admired writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait's committment to his main character's point of view. While this often results in the film feeling a littly preachy, it also lends it an unaplogetic quality often missing from mainstream comedies.

While most of 'sacred cows' the film take aim at (reality TV; political didacticism) have long been self-parodic, some of the more personal targets (people who talk in movies; inconsiderate neighbours) make for amusing set-pieces.

Ultimately though, the film kinda runs out of steam before the end, and the satire suffers for it. But God Bless America stands in such marked contrast to most modern comedies (even those dedicated to being un-PC like The Dictator), I can't help but reccommend it to anyone looking for something a little different. Hide

The People's Reviews

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2 ratings and 2 reviews

All reviews (2)

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Cockroaches identified and terminated!

Gerd Flicks Superstar (?)

I usually don't hurt a fly but living through a movie that allows me to indemnify with some lovable beings, which finally had enough and starting to shoot the most disgusting members of society, to the likes of the G.Bushes, bimbo Kardashian's, Schwarzenegger's, reality show dumpsters, brainless religious fanatics, mentally deranged homophobic and other stinking human cockroaches, got me into a state of relaxed happiness. Even though "only" a movie there might be some light on the end of the tunnel.
It's easy to blame the Americans but this is a worldwide problem as there is no real difference between the Putin's and the Bushes on Earth and even our little New Zealand has many of them crawling along the sidewalks.

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A scathing indictment

Jed Wannabe (?)

This film is a scathing indictment of the American Value system. It has a lot to say, but in doing so it reveals its own inherent uglyness. While the film is on a level entertaining, its messages seem corrupted as they are delivered in vessels of shocking violence, and other extremes, and in that it doesn't feel so removed from the ideals it chastises.

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Press Reviews

A.V. Club (USA)

The key point about God Bless America is that it's extreme but not exaggerated, a dark comedy that indulges - and questions - a violent, misanthropic fantasy about laying waste to the cultural landscape while staying grounded in a recognizable reality. Full review.

Chicago Reader

As with the earlier movie, this one turns in on its own morality like a Möbius strip, endorsing kindness by practicing slaughter, and pulls us along for the ride. Detractors will call its reasoning ridiculous, and they'll be right - though I doubt that will bother Goldthwait, who makes a living being ridiculous. Full review.

Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

Here is a film that begins with merciless comic savagery and descends into merely merciless savagery. But wow, what an opening. Full review.

Empire (UK)

Part road trip, part revenge movie, this is a tentative tale of a man who's not going to take it anymore, sharp on the fallibility of human foibles and sometimes stingingly funny, too. Full review.

New York Daily News

As both a comedian and filmmaker, Bobcat Goldthwait ("Shakes the Clown") has carved out a valuable spot as an idiosyncratic instigator. But even fans may be disappointed at how swiftly he undermines its own message here. Full review.

Time Out New York

It's Goldthwait's first misstep, a serious one. He's simply not the filmmaker to mount a fierce takedown of Kardashian culture, thorough though his script's rage is. Full review.