didn't they have sex prior to b-day?

Age of consent in Texas is 17.

ok then. not a pedophile. still kinda disturbing.

well, that's sad. rip.

Watched this with my gf yesterday. She grew up in and around Texas City, so she pretty much recognized all the locations in the film. She even worked at a salon that Mikey rides his bike past in one scene.

Anyway, good movie, but man Mikey is such a loser and creep

Another winner from Sean Baker.

Going through the comments here, I found it a little surprising when some of you say you didn't know whether or not to root for Mikey. I disliked everything about him, everything he said, and everything he did. He oozed sleaze from every pore the moment he appears on screen and has not one redeeming quality. I knew everything he promised to his estranged wife and mother in law would turn out to be a lie, and I also knew they would cave in. As for why he even spoke to Lexi at the end, I don't think it was guilt or his conscience or anything, just that he needed to get into her bedroom one last time. If he didn't need to, he would have disappeared like a fart in the wind.

I wasn't as bothered by the sex scenes between Mikey and Strawberry (and especially not when I learned that Suzanne Son was 28), because it was nothing she hadn't done willingly a thousand times before. Sorry I know that's a controversial take and I get that someone underage (although technically she wasn't underage in Texas) can't legally give consent but she knew what was doing. What DID give me the creeps about their relationship was how despite being sex positive, Strawberry clearly had her boundaries and lines she would not cross, and Mikey had every intention to get her to do something she was not interested in at all.

For those who haven't seen it yet, if you're one of those people that needs the lead in a film to be likeable, skip this one. But you can probably skip pretty much all of Baker's films. And the Safdies too, while you're at it.

Adding on, over the last couple of days I listened to both audio commentaries on the Blu Ray. If you liked this movie, I'd highly recommend them. Baker, Rex, and the cinematographer discuss some of the technical elements of the movie (like in almost every outdoor scene there's a smokestack from the refinery in the background), and how it connects to Starlet in the Sean Baker universe. The other commentary is from a British film critic, and while she spends way way too much time talking about Italian neo-realism comedies, once she gets going there's a lot of good information in there. One is a direct reference to Severin Films and the movie Anthropophagus that I completely missed, and the other was a much better way of addressing the more uncomfortable elements of the story that I've tried to discuss here. Oh, and you could walk into a donut shop tomorrow and if Suzanne Son was working there, you wouldn't even notice. Her "regular" look is nothing like Strawberry.

i disagree. Even though he was a scumbag, he took me in and I felt sorry for him. I didn’t hate the character. He did deplorable things and was deplorable, but I think he’s meant to be a somewhat sympathetic character.

I really need to see this again. In my Top 3 for 2021.

^ yes. I want to hear the commentary but then I miss the movie.

I had no sympathy for him. Nothing is ever his fault, he's always the victim. I can't stand people like that (and I've met a few). Own up to something for once in your life. But he never does. Just imagine how he'll paint the events of the film when he's moved on to the next phase of his life. Like he won't mention that he did what the drug dealers explicitly told him not to do (selling to the hardhats), or that he only paid his fair share at his wife's house after they threatened to kick him out and that he was gonna leave them high and dry anyway because he found his next meal ticket (Strawberry).

I've known people just like that and I smelled his bullshit from the first lines of dialogue he spoke. It's just one con after another.

Whoa. I think you took the movie way too seriously.

I don't even know what you mean by that. You just said you felt sympathy for him, and I said I didn't and told you why. How is that "taking the movie too seriously?" All I did was judge the character by his on screen actions, combined with real-life experiences I've had with people who possessed similar traits.

In this Sean Baker interview, he talks about suitcase pimps he's spoken with and how he laughed at their stories while they were talking. It was only after the conversations that he thought for a second and realized they were admitting to doing reprehensible things and he questioned himself for laughing. That's the charisma of the suitcase pimp at work, and it's how they can worm their way into people's lives.

I think Simon Rex really nailed that quality of his character because even though I hated what he was doing to the people around him, there was a part of me that was somehow connecting to Mikey on an emotional level. Not everyone is going to fall for his charms, but I was apparently put under the spell of the suitcase pimp while I was watching the film.

I could not go all in and like his character (Because of the underage girl he dated and fucked) even though he was charming in some parts telling porn stories to that dude in that car

Still the Florida Project was better.

I bet the Donut Hole in Texas got new customers and more business with this movie.

Forgive me in advance for stereotyping, but something tells me that that is not a part of the country that's big on independent film. So I doubt too many locals saw the movie.

They have Donut Hole locations in Austin, which is one of the bigger spots for Indie flicks in the country.

Ah, I thought Jeff was referring to the actual Donut Hole location where the movie was shot.

(also, didn't know it was a chain and that there are stores in Austin, which I agree is very much into independent film)

It must be the rare donut store that is not Krispy Kreme that is still open at 6pm and the evening?

All the local stores here in Fremont, CA close around 2pm.

Watrched this today and really liked it. Sean Baker does it again with another tale of outcasts trying to survive on the fringes of society. Right up there with Tangerine and The Florida Project,

4/5

It seems fitting that Simon Rex's next project will be Pussy Island: https://deadline.com/2022/05/simon-r...er-1235027084/

It sounds like Rex owes Baker a car...or at least a keg of beer.

It is not a Sean Baker project and that is a relief since Channing Tatum would never be in any of his projects.