God Bless America (2011) (Movie Review)

Dir: Bobcat Goldthwaithe
Starring: Joel Murray, Tara Lynn Barr
Dur: 1 hr 44 mins
Genre: Dark Humour
Rating: 1/10
PG: Lots of foul language

The film is barely watchable but has got a powerful message to get across. Unfortunately it suffers from a communication block. It fails to appeal to the interest and hence remains a mere spectacle to yawn at. It’s got nothing to hold your interest and is just a drab story of a man who begins to see through the charade that is life and goes on a farcical rampage to eliminate the jerks from America. 

Along the way he tags along an equally dumb and brainless girl who is equally disgusted with life. The two team up to rid of America of its stupidity but fail to recognize the stupidity of their design.
America is crassly parodied and the American way of life is mocked with the hope of waking up the Americans to the reality that is their lifestyle. How far they succeeded is beyond my desire to know but surely it doesn’t interest people of other nationalities, or does it? The American lifestyle has been aped by most cultures and hence this film has wider reach. It wakes us up to the superficiality of our relationships, the shallowness of our interests and the rubbish which we are exposed to especially via the media.


The film brought home a very important lesson to me, something I knew but keep at the back of my mind: If you’ve got something to say, make sure you say it well. This film had something important to tell us but the way it said it reduced its efficacy considerably. Media can be used to spread positivity or negativity and this film used it both ways. It focused on a positive message albeit in a negative manner. 

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