God Bless America
A niche film by any standard, "God Bless America" is a satirical comedy about a man and young girl who go on a cross-country killing spree. It’s viciously light-hearted in its treatment of flat-out murder, aiming for screwball comedy style laughs as the duo figures out the logistics of slaughtering people. The target: Anyone who isn’t "nice" and deserves to die.
With only slight alterations to avoid defamation suits, everyone from Simon Cowell to Bill O’Reilly make the list of people who "deserve to die." One might quibble with their decision to slaughter children, office workers, and other innocents. But really, in a comedy of this nature, audiences implicitly leave good taste at the door when they press ’play’.
It’s uneven, a little preachy, but surprisingly fun. The joy had by the cast of the film is palpable through the buckets of blood and ringing of gunfire.
The DVD comes with a surprisingly full set of extras: outtakes, deleted scenes, interviews. All of the features have an indie vibe, the type of features this film’s audience will find quite satisfying. "God Bless America" is a movie for film nerds by film nerds, and the special features bear that out. A full-length filmmaker commentary track is also included.
The only disappointment to be found on the DVD is a lack of English subtitles. Even Netflix has begun captioning their streaming films. In this era, there’s no excuse for any film to be released without subtitles in the film’s language. Oddly, Spanish subtitles are included.
In short, if you’re an indie film fan with a dark sense of humor, and you’re not deaf, the "God Bless America" DVD release will make a welcome addition to the collection.
"God Bless America"
Magnolia Pictures
$14.99
www.magpictures.com
