Review of American Movie (1999) by Andy K — 13 Nov 2010

Tragicomical documentary, about a wannabe film-maker (Mark Borchardt) and his high-flying ambitions to make "the great american movie". What makes it sad and funny at the same time, is that whenever he talks about making his film, it sounds like he really knows what he's doing.

He's got a passion and determination that is quite admirable. But the real result, however, is the worst kind of B-horror movie imaginable. It's still interesting to follow his process though, perhaps mainly for all the fascinating people that he drags into it.

For while Mark is somewhat of an obnoxious, loud-mouthed and pathetic kind of person, his friends and family are really amusing to watch. Especially his uncle and friend Mike. They're pretty hilarious, without being aware of it.

Sadly though, the documentary overall is more depressing than it is funny. Mark's persistency is pretty inspiring, but the fact that he constantly fails, in both his film-making and personal life, makes it more a sad reminder of all the non-talents in this world, who put their dreams before their family.

Mark even lures money out of his poor old Uncle just to finance his film-making, which in my eyes just makes him more unsympathetic. And one of his friends say in an interview that "I always thought he was gonna grow up to be a stalker or serial killer".

So for all it's interesting qualities, it's pretty obvious that Mark will never amount to much. In fact, he's probably slouching on a sofa somewhere right now, with a joint in one hand and a beer in the other.

Just out of curiosity though, I did look up his name on IMDB, and surprised as I was, it looks like he's actually gotten somewhere since the shooting of American Movie. Not as a director, but as an actor.

Apparently he's even had a role in the movie The One with Jet Li, which isn't too bad for a high-school drop-out of white trash origins. I guess it proves that as long as you have the will and the right mind-set, it does pay off to hold on to your dreams.