Rockets Redglare! (2003)

Director:

Luis Fernandez de la Reguera

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Documentary on Rockets Redglare (aka Michael Morra), a colorful figure on the New York City art scene up until his death in 2001...

Plot Keywords:

New York City | New York | Death | Actor | Interview

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Gary Ray	...	Himself
Rockets Redglare	...	Himself
Willem Dafoe	...	Himself
Matt Dillon	...	Himself
Jim Jarmusch	...	Himself
Steve Buscemi	...	Himself
Julian Schnabel	...	Himself
Nick Zedd	...	Himself
Rene Heras	...	Herself
Elizabeth English	...	Herself
Indian Larry	...	Himself
Alexandre Rockwell	...	Himself
Rachel Amodeo	...	Herself
Donald Baechler	...	Himself
M. Henry Jones	...	Himself

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Company:

Benzfilm Group

a fascinating face in the crowd

Rockets Redglare was one of that legion of faces you recognize from movies without ever knowing his name or anything about him. I first took notice of him after "Talk Radio" -- a name like Rockets Redglare stood out from the credits.

What the film "Rockets Redglare!" reveals about the man Rockets Redglare is that he led a life more traumatic, more sad, and -- amazingly enough -- funnier, than most of the movies he appeared in. He was a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker who grew up in the 50's and 60's among hustlers and thieves. Rockets tells the camera some jaw-dropping stories about that world and how it contributed to his own addictions and compulsions.

His ability to get laughs out of his stories led him to become the black sheep of an extended family of artists and performers in the East Village in the early 80's. Members of that extended family appear here to tell you how they loved Rockets and how they never lost hope that he could "get it together."

"Rockets Redglare!" mixes home movies and photos of Rockets' past, clips from his film career and interviews taken with he and his circle in the last few years of his life. The result is multi-faceted -- a biography of a charismatic and unusual man, a document of a period in New York cultural history, a cautionary tale of excess.

The only possible flaw with this movie was that I wanted more of it. You are left wanting to hear more of his stories. This may not be a flaw, but the highest compliment for a documentary -- in 90 minutes it took me from knowing nothing to wanting to know everything about Rockets and his world.