A frank and stylishly made tale of coming of age and sexual frenzy in New Mexico, “ National Anthem ” commands your attention well before its centerpiece scene: Charlie Plummer , in a red sequined dress and grungy platinum-blond wig seemingly torn from the lookbook of mid-‘90s Courtney Love, performing drag to Alannah Myles’ whiskey-soaked power ballad “Black Velvet.” The actor, a fair-haired 25-year-old so reedy he’s liable to get swept up with the tumbleweeds billowing across the desert, fulfills the promise of his breakout performance as another sort of cowboy in Andrew Haigh’s “Lean on Pete.” Dylan’s (Plummer) drag turn in this powerhouse moment is such a total 180 from the repressed construction worker we see in the opening moments, shouldering the burdens of caring for his little brother and sauced single mom.
That’s because his American dream and sexual identity have been totally shattered by a spirited community of queer rodeo performers. Luke Gilford, a fashion photographer and music video director for the likes of Troye Sivan and Kesha, pivots to feature filmmaker with a vivid and confidently told Western that twists the tropes of Americana and is unabashedly queer. While the melodramas of a hardscrabble life at home are never as compelling as the lively ranch that offers Dylan reprieve from them, “National Anthem” is high on mood and feeling rather than story.
This very horny queer Western is a rush of sensory pleasures, from the reddene.
