Review of American Movie (1999) by Devon B — 21 Mar 2011

Amateurs in any field or endeavor often lack perspective when it comes to what they do: I'm sure minor league ball players often compare their stats to those of the pros, unsigned bands probably watch successful bands on television, comparing performances, and amateur filmmakers often think "if I could just get the amount of backing such-and-such got, my film would be as big as his". For independent filmmakers, success is more often measured purely by the scope and magnitude of the project, rather than by actual quality. Which brings us to Mark Borchardt, a filmmaker out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, struggling to get the financing to put his horror film "Coven" out (CO-ven, long "oh", to avoid sounding like "oven", for whatever reason). Once he finishes "Coven" and sells the 3000 copies at $14.95 a piece, then he'll have the $45,000 necessary to begin shooting his next project, "North Western" (oh, and also pay off some of his debt). The only thing standing in his way is the extra $3000 he needs to borrow from Uncle Bill, but why would anyone pass up the chance to get an executive producer's credit and make back their money tenfold?

Unless independently wealthy, it's just not possible to pursue such longshot dreams while maintaining a life of your own, and Mark proves to have difficulty in this area. Living at home with his mom, he drinks too much, sees his kids perhaps too little, and is in debt up to his eyeballs. He has various part-time jobs, from paper boy to custodian at a cemetary, he's determined to not be a worker drone who's just another cog in the machine. He has vague notions of wealth and success "one day", a day when all those who doubted him will eat their words. Uncle Bill, an elderly man not in the best of health, has no great faith in Mark, helping him financially more out of wanting to make his nephew happy than anything. Bill is an interesting guy: living in a trailer home yet supposedly worth over $280,000. It's hard to tell whether he's amused by Mark's exploits or just being pushed into things he might not want to do by his crazy nephew.

American Movie is just that, a slice of life from right in the center of the country. People like Mike Schank, an acid casuality who just happens to be a brilliant musician can't be created to have this kind of depth in a hollywood movie script. It's trailer park angst and the great sound and fury of nothing significant being created. The current release of the American Movie dvd has a copy of "Covan" as part of the bonus material, in what must be the producer's way of "giving back" to Mark (I assume he gets a healthy royalty from this arrangement). The bottom line: it's an awful movie, and there's nothing to suggest Mark is some great undiscovered talent. Strange that such a great documentary should be made about him then.