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'{{Infobox film | name = God Bless America | image = God bless america ver2.jpg | caption = Promotional poster | director = [[Bobcat Goldthwait]] | producer = Jeff Culotta | writer = Bobcat Goldthwait | starring = [[Joel Murray]]<br>[[Tara Lynne Barr]]<br>[[Mackenzie Brooke Smith]]<br>[[Melinda Page Hamilton]] | music = Matt Kollar | cinematography = Bradley Stonesifer | editing = Jason Stewart | studio = Darko Entertainment | distributor = [[Magnolia Pictures]] | released = {{Film date|2011|9|11|Toronto|2012|4|6|United States}} | runtime = | country = United States | language = English | gross = $122,550<ref>http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=godblessamerica.htm</ref> }} '''''God Bless America''''' is a 2011 dark comedy film a.k.a (poop) that combines elements of [[political satire]] with [[black humor]]. The film was written and directed by [[Bobcat Goldthwait]], and stars [[Joel Murray]] and [[Tara Lynne Barr]]. ''God Bless America'' premiered on September 9, 2011, at the [[2011 Toronto International Film Festival]], and was released On Demand on April 6, 2012 and in theaters on May 11, 2012.<ref>[http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/rising-stars-of-2012.html Yahoo Movies UK & Ireland Rising Stars of 2012 by Daniel Bettridge, December 23, 2011]</ref> The DVD for the film was released on the 9th July 2012. ==Plot== Frank Murdoch ([[Joel Murray]]) is a middle-aged insurance salesman living in [[Syracuse, New York]], who is sick with how the [[United States|USA]] has fallen into a state of rudeness based on [[Popular culture|pop culture]], [[talk radio]], [[television]], and internet influences. After a boring evening of watching television, including the [[reality show]] series, ''Tuff Gurlz'', where a foul-mouthed woman ([[Guerrin Gardner]]) removes a [[tampon]] from herself and throws it at another woman for [[defecating]] in her food, and an episode of ''American Superstarz'' where a mentally-handicapped singer named Steven Clark ([[Aris Alvarado]]) is cruelly humiliated by the judges for his horrible singing voice, Frank contemplates killing his rude and inconsiderate neighbors, whose screaming baby mixed in with his own insomnia and chronic [[migraine]] headaches give him a lack of peace in his own home. His ex-wife, Alison ([[Melinda Page Hamilton]]) has custody of their daughter, Ava ([[Mackenzie Brooke Smith]]), who has become a spoiled brat whose mother caters to her every whim. Making matters worse, he is [[Termination of employment|fired]] from his job at the insurance company, after a failed attempt at being nice results in a [[sexual harassment]] complaint and violation of company privacy for looking up a coworker's address in the records. He is then informed by his uninterested doctor he has a terminal [[brain tumor]] that is nearly inoperable, but the doctor's seeming lack of concern only drives Frank further into [[depression (mood)|depression]]. Frank tries to commit [[suicide]] with a pistol he owns, but stops when he watches a reality show starring Chloe ([[Maddie Hasson]]), a spoiled teenager, who launches into a profanity-laced tirade when her parents mistakenly buy her a [[Lexus]] sedan instead of a [[Cadillac Escalade]] for her birthday, and has an [[epiphany (feeling)|epiphany]]. The next day he steals his neighbor's [[Chevrolet Camaro|Camaro]], drives to Chloe's school in [[Virginia]] and handcuffs her to her own steering wheel at gunpoint. After a failed attempt to ignite her gas tank, he kills her by shooting her at point blank range. One of Chloe's classmates, Roxanne "Roxy" Harmon ([[Tara Lynne Barr]]), witnesses this and comes to the same realization as Frank. Roxy follows Frank back to his motel where he is once again preparing to commit suicide; however, she prevents this by convincing Frank that the media would inevitably paint him as a homicidal stalker who only killed Chloe because of an unrequited sexual obsession. Frank explains to Roxy that he only wants bad people to die - people who have committed blatant acts of cruelty and stupidity against their fellow man. To alleviate Frank's thoughts of suicide, Roxy suggests they kill Chloe's parents and he agrees. Frank shoots Chloe's father ([[Larry Miller (entertainer)|Larry Miller]]), and after a brief chase, Roxy stabs her mother ([[Dorie Barton]]) with a kitchen knife. Roxy convinces Frank to take her along to keep her away from her [[Substance dependence|drug addict]] mother and [[Child abuse|abusive]], [[Rape|rapist]] step-father. They then decide to go on the lam, becoming [[fugitive]]s to continue their killing spree. After buying new clothes at a [[thrift store]], they visit a movie theater to watch a documentary about the 1968 [[My Lai Massacre]]. During the movie, several rude teenagers enter the mostly empty theater and begin talking loudly and using their cell phones. Frank and Roxy shoot and kill all but one of them (thanking her for not talking during the movie), as well as another patron ([[Toby Huss]]), who refrains himself from picking up somebody with the reason that he's working and tries to film the shooting with his cellphone. Afterwards they kill several others, including a man who double-parks his car, [[Westboro Baptist Church]] members, and Michael Fuller ([[Regan Burns]]), a popular but abrasive [[Conservatism|conservative]] political television commentator. After hearing about Steven Clark's attempt to kill himself apparently due to his infamy on ''American Superstarz'' garnering him a huge cult following and reappearance on ''Superstarz'', Frank contemplates taking over the show. Frank then receives a call from his doctor telling him that there was an earlier mix-up with Frank's [[MRI]] results, and that his migraines are probably the result of simple stress and [[hypertension]], rather than cancer. Elated that he's not dying, Frank decides to move to [[France]] with Roxy to avoid prosecution for the murders they've committed. While eating in a diner with Roxy, Frank is propositioned by a pervert who mistakes Roxy for an underage [[Prostitution|prostitute]] and Frank as her pimp. Frank tells the pervert he has the wrong idea and leaves the diner. Later, Frank discovers in a news report that Roxy's real family and life are far different from what she described; instead, her parents are a typical American mother and father ([[Andrea Harper]] and [[David Mendenhall]]) in a middle-class neighborhood looking for her on television. Frank then strangles the pervert who had accosted him earlier in the diner to avoid being associated with Roxy's disappearance. Roxy confesses that she lied to Frank about her life back home after he confronts her. Her parents are average people who do care about her, but have always failed to take the time out of their material, consumer lives to appreciate her as a person. Angry that she lied to him, Frank parts ways with Roxy, giving her the Camaro he had stolen from his neighbor and takes the pervert's truck. Meanwhile, Roxy returns home to her family. Frank buys an [[AK-47]] Assault Rifle from an illegal arms dealer ([[Mike Tristano]]) and makes his way to the American Superstarz studio, killing off several cast members and holding the judges and contestants hostage for humiliating Steven. Frank makes a brutally honest speech in front of the camera about the ridiculousness and selfishness that is promoted in today's American society and on TV. Steven interrupts Frank to reveal that the real reason he attempted suicide wasn't out of humiliation, but because he'd never be on TV again. When the [[SWAT]] team arrives, Roxy joins Frank on stage by surprise from the audience, and they proceed to shoot Steven, all the judges, contestants and several members of the audience before they are gunned down by the police, falling very much like [[Bonnie and Clyde]]. ==Cast== *[[Joel Murray]] as Frank Murdoch *[[Tara Lynne Barr]] as Roxanne "Roxy" Harmon *[[Mackenzie Brooke Smith]] as Ava *[[Melinda Page Hamilton]] as Alison *[[Rich McDonald]] as Brad *[[Regan Burns]] as Michael Fuller *[[Aris Alvarado]] as Steven Clark *[[Maddie Hasson]] as Chloe *[[Geoff Pierson]] as Frank's Boss *[[Larry Miller (entertainer)|Larry Miller]] as Chloe's Dad *[[Dorie Barton]] as Chloe's Mom *[[David Mendenhall]] as Roxy's Dad *[[Andrea Harper]] as Roxy's Mom *[[Travis Wester]] as Ed *[[Mike Tristano]] as Mike the Arms Dealer *[[Toby Huss]] as Theater Patron with Cell Phone *[[Mo Gaffney]] as Lounge Singer *[[Christopher Allen Nelson]] as State Trooper *[[Guerrin Gardner]] as Tampon Throwing Tuff Gurl *[[Kirk Bovill]] as Police Captain [[File:God Bless America Deauville 2012.jpg|thumb|Director and stars promoting the film at the [[Deauville American Film Festival]] in 2012.]] ==Festivals== ''God Bless America'' was selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, [[South By Southwest]] Film Festival,<ref name="SX Schedule">{{cite web|url=http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_FS12386|title=SX Schedule God Bless America|work=SXSW Schedule|publisher=[[South By Southwest]]|date=1 February 2012|accessdate=1 March 2012|deadurl=no}}</ref> as well as the [[Maryland Film Festival]] and the Brisbane International Film Festival. ==Reception== ===Critical reception=== The film received generally positive reviews. {{Rotten Tomatoes score|1912398|all_in_one_plus_consensus}} ===Accolades=== {| class="wikitable" rowspan=5; style="text-align: center; background:#ffffff;" !Year!!Award!!Category!!Recipient!!Result!!Ref. |- |[[34th Young Artist Awards|2013]] |[[Young Artist Award]]||[[Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film|Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress]]||[[Tara Lynne Barr]]||{{nom}}||<ref name="Young Artist Awards 3">{{cite web|url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/noms34.html|title=34th Annual Young Artist Awards|accessdate=2013-03-31|work=YoungArtistAwards.org}}</ref> |} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.godblessamericamovie.com}} * {{IMDb title|1912398|God Bless America}} * {{rotten-tomatoes|id=god_bless_america_2011|title=God Bless America}} * {{Mojo title|godblessamerica|God Bless America}} * [http://www.hulu.com/watch/323440/god-bless-america God Bless America Trailer] on Hulu * [http://www.totalfanhub.com/god-bless-america God Bless America UK Fanhub] * [http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/god-bless-america-red-band-trailer-nadam.php God Bless America "Red Band" Trailer Sticks Its Middle Finger Up at Pop Culture] * [http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/the-projector/toronto-2011-god-bless-america-unlikely-directing-career-230010993.html God Bless America and the Unlikely Directing Career of Bobcat Goldthwait] {{Bobcat Goldthwait}} {{DEFAULTSORT:God Bless America}} [[Category:2010s comedy films]] [[Category:2011 films]] [[Category:English-language films]] [[Category:Films directed by Bobcat Goldthwait]] [[Category:Screenplays by Bobcat Goldthwait]] [[Category:Independent films]]'