PARK CITY, Utah -- Uncle Bill lives in a trailer with 240 grand stashed somewhere or other, but the guy has trouble remembering to cut his toenails. And, he's executive producing a low-budget horror movie, thanks to the unrelenting sales job of his nephew Mark to wheedle $3,000 from him. An uproarious but kindly document of an obsessed young man's struggle to make his film in the decidedly un-Mecca-like environs of Menomonee Falls, Wis., "American Movie" is one of the real finds of the Sundance Film Festival. The Sony Pictures Classics release will win appreciative festival play as well as select-site audience kudos with this invigorating tale of one man's dream to make a film.
Even by cheesehead standards, 30-year-old "filmmaker" Mark Borchardt has some leaks in his dreamboat. Although he's obsessed with making a movie, Mark Been's floundering for the last half-dozen years. He's subsisted by living at home, slogging through odd jobs and arm-twisting anyone with a six-pack attention span to sign on for his movie. As you'd expect, there's not much enthusiasm among his practical-minded peers and Milwaukee-area family for making a movie.
With deadpan detachment, but also bracing warmth, filmmaker Chris Smith has charted a modern-day, Midwestern "Rocky", as blue-collar Mark sets out against all odds and good advice to make his film. Admittedly, it's an obsession and a bit of a screwy one, but that's what makes it so great -- it's no safe, well-charted road to a cushy, 9-to-5 ending. Armed with only an appreciation for movie classics -- "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Night of the Living Dead", etc. -- Mark is clearly not only an underdog, but a guy who is a bit self-destructive.
While Smith's focus is Mark's dream to make a movie, "American Movie" is, in a larger sense, a depiction of the fractured but vital fringe of the American Dream. As ever, dreamers get no encouragement from the mainstream, and anything that is worth doing has always been ridiculed by the practical folk. Truly, no one accused Mark of being practical -- that's his most winning characteristic.
Even-handed in its framing of Mark and his filmmaking, Wisconsin-based Smith's documentation is encompassing, showing Mark's laggardly lifestyle, his boozing binges with buddies, as well as his remarkable resilience in dealing with the boggling obstacles that would make a nondreamer give up.
At once illuminating and hilarious, "American Movie" is bright, accomplished filmmaking. Smith's smart and entertaining depiction of this quixotic quest is carried out with all the technical skills and savvy of a veteran filmmaker. His cinematography is sharply drawn, framing succinctly and fairly Mark's life and dream quest. Other technical contributions are similarly articulate, especially Mike Schank's aptly rambunctious and raw music, clueing us to the energy and unstoppable tenacity of one man's triumph over himself and his worldly obstacles.
AMERICAN MOVIE
Sony Pictures Classics
Producers: Sarah Price, Chris Smith
Director: Chris Smith
Sound: Sarah Price
Co-producers: Jim McKay, Michael Stipe
Editor: Jun Diaz, Barry Poltermann, Chris Smith
Music: Mike Schank
Director ofphotography: Chris Smith
Additional photography: Sarah Price
Creative consultant: Dick Blau
Color/stereo
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Even by cheesehead standards, 30-year-old "filmmaker" Mark Borchardt has some leaks in his dreamboat. Although he's obsessed with making a movie, Mark Been's floundering for the last half-dozen years. He's subsisted by living at home, slogging through odd jobs and arm-twisting anyone with a six-pack attention span to sign on for his movie. As you'd expect, there's not much enthusiasm among his practical-minded peers and Milwaukee-area family for making a movie.
With deadpan detachment, but also bracing warmth, filmmaker Chris Smith has charted a modern-day, Midwestern "Rocky", as blue-collar Mark sets out against all odds and good advice to make his film. Admittedly, it's an obsession and a bit of a screwy one, but that's what makes it so great -- it's no safe, well-charted road to a cushy, 9-to-5 ending. Armed with only an appreciation for movie classics -- "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Night of the Living Dead", etc. -- Mark is clearly not only an underdog, but a guy who is a bit self-destructive.
While Smith's focus is Mark's dream to make a movie, "American Movie" is, in a larger sense, a depiction of the fractured but vital fringe of the American Dream. As ever, dreamers get no encouragement from the mainstream, and anything that is worth doing has always been ridiculed by the practical folk. Truly, no one accused Mark of being practical -- that's his most winning characteristic.
Even-handed in its framing of Mark and his filmmaking, Wisconsin-based Smith's documentation is encompassing, showing Mark's laggardly lifestyle, his boozing binges with buddies, as well as his remarkable resilience in dealing with the boggling obstacles that would make a nondreamer give up.
At once illuminating and hilarious, "American Movie" is bright, accomplished filmmaking. Smith's smart and entertaining depiction of this quixotic quest is carried out with all the technical skills and savvy of a veteran filmmaker. His cinematography is sharply drawn, framing succinctly and fairly Mark's life and dream quest. Other technical contributions are similarly articulate, especially Mike Schank's aptly rambunctious and raw music, clueing us to the energy and unstoppable tenacity of one man's triumph over himself and his worldly obstacles.
AMERICAN MOVIE
Sony Pictures Classics
Producers: Sarah Price, Chris Smith
Director: Chris Smith
Sound: Sarah Price
Co-producers: Jim McKay, Michael Stipe
Editor: Jun Diaz, Barry Poltermann, Chris Smith
Music: Mike Schank
Director ofphotography: Chris Smith
Additional photography: Sarah Price
Creative consultant: Dick Blau
Color/stereo
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating...
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