AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Casey Duggan
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
Justina
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Roland E. Zwick
"Rockets Redglare" is a documentary tribute to a man (known only as Rockets Redglare) who was a standup comic, a character actor, an alcoholic, a drug addict and a beloved friend of such cinema stalwarts as Steve Buscemi, Jim Jarmusch, Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillon and many others. In fact, Rockets appeared in many independent features including "Stranger Than Paradise," "Down By Law," "Mystery Train," and "Basquiat," as well as more mainstream works such as "Big" and "Talk Radio" (he's the killer who shoots the talk show host). "Rockets Redglare" was planned and filmed before Rockets' death, making it one of those rare posthumous documentaries in which the subject gets to tell his own life story.Although there are a number of interesting moments scattered throughout the film, I must admit that I began to wonder early on what it was exactly about this man that made anyone think him worthy of a full-length documentary. Frankly, except for some harrowing moments Rockets recounts from his childhood (his mother and father were both criminals and drug addicts), his life doesn't seem really all that interesting, and the insights he provides into life aren't particularly witty or insightful. With no voice-over narration to provide any real cohesion or focus, the film feels slapdash and aimless, relying strictly on Rockets himself and his buddies, Dillon, Buscemi, Dafoe etc. to flesh out the storyline. Although everyone keeps telling us what a wonderful and likable person Rockets was, the charm really doesn't come across all that well on screen, so I guess we'll just have to take their word for it that that was indeed how he was. I guess you just had to be there.
wallacebert
This is more of an impression than a review, because I only watched the first 30 min. or so. But this film is little more than a string of endlessly lurid, possibly true tales by and about an admittedly interesting guy. And, in the end, so what? There's no insight, nothing of real value - just a cesspool to either wallow in or gawk at. I'm sure RR was completely in sympathy with the filmmakers (though he makes several comments indicating that he thinks the whole project is odd). But his life (assuming his true-crime life story is indeed true) seems to be merely strip mined. Take what you can get, then get out.If you're interested in stories about child molestation, murder, prison rape, etc., then go for it. Though I've been intrigued by RR since noticing him in Jim Jaramuch films in the 80s, this offered no promise of insight. Watching this is like rubbernecking at a grisly car wreck. Nothing and no one is served.
wobelix
This documentary is simply superb.Making a portrait of someone isn't easy, first of all because it has to seem effortless. That works wonderfully here, within minutes you'll get the feeling that you've known this Rockets Redglare all your life !The director has given us a true labor of love, and that same sentiment is rendered by the friends that shed some light on the guy. Without being cheesy or trying to hide any of the darker sides of his 'topic', true friendship beams out.Both funny and deeply tragic and even disgusting at times, this documentary is as honest and as well made as any portrait will ever get. It'll make you wish you were out there with them...
afc-ajax
Quote: "The only possible flaw with this movie was that I wanted more of it."I find this impossible to believe unless you are a masochist. The doc seems hell-bent on portraying RR as some sort of figurehead of indie/off-beat cinema & stage...and yet you realise - watching people like Willem Dafoe and Steve Buscemi struggle to come up with anything remotely interesting to say...and looking embarrassed by what little they can muster - that RR's just a *u*ked-up guy with a *u*ked-up life.There's nothing wrong with being *u*ked-up, but the desperation evident in the way this doc was assembled (I can only assume every single frame of every interview ever shot was used) is too much. It is the antithesis of editing. I ended-up walking out of the theatre (Hot Docs - Toronto - 2003), feeling that this doc wasn't even fit for Interrogation Night at a prison camp.
