American Movie

source: American Movie

A documentary following the dream of movie director Mark Borchardt to finance and direct independent horror movie Northwestern. Having not managed to finish his previous attempt at movie making with the short film Coven. Borrowing money left right and centre, Mark pulls together his cast and crew and begins pre-production with his friends and relatives giving support. However without good planning and management skills, Mark struggles to get things moving and doesn't seem entirely sure what he is doing other than doing a lot of talking in a production that seems as ambitious as the small town he lives in. I tuned into this film expecting to see a documentary about making a (very) low budget film but it quickly becomes a car crash of a movie that is less about that subject and more about just gawking at the white trash, small-town characters on display here. This is a shame because the latter would have been more interesting but it soon becomes evident that Mark isn't the sort of person we want to follow in such a story – he is no visionary, he is no struggling artist and he is not creative. The fact that he is simply copying horror films he has seen before, without adding anything of value to it could have been used as a condemnation of the US film-making machine but it isn't. Instead we are just left to watch Mark talking a lot of air without substance, his family seem unbothered by anything, his friends mostly act stupid and stoned. Luckily this aspect of it is just about amusing enough to justify watching but it does get tiresome after a while. Mark is a character but he doesn't seem to realise that the audience are laughing at him rather than going along with him. He is a few steps away from trailer trash and I suppose he at least seems to be driven towards his dream – but it would have been more interesting if this belief in an American Dream that many are mis-sold had been picked away at, but instead the film just lets him talk away. In fairness he has done OK out of it and he has had his dream of fame in terms of being mocked on Letterman for a while but other than that you do wonder what the point of the film was. Perhaps it is a real "Jay & Silent Bob" movie, which is all I could think as Mark and Mike bumbled around on screen. Overall, a documentary it is pointless and rather dull; it doesn't look at the making of a film very well at all, nor does it explore the idea of the American Dream (something it could easily and fascinatingly done). Instead it just watches the characters bumble around and, although the small town trash are amusing at points, they are not interesting or funny enough to fill the running time and even this gets boring before the end.

This movie, about supremely untalented American film-maker Mark Borchardt and his attempts to make a short film in order to make a small amount of money which will launch him into fame and fortune as a film-maker, is riveting. As they say, fact is stranger than fiction. That is certainly borne out by this picture. Borchardt uses his friends, family, and assorted local actors to try and complete this picture. Borchardt is a character who could drive a novel or inspire cult members. One sometimes wonders why so many of the folks who people his film work for as long as they do, with him. But in truth, it's not hard to tell. Borchardt, however misguided, has vision. He doesn't have much talent and he has a drinking problem, but he has a vision. He has determination and perseverance that others can only dream of. He has charisma. It makes him a compelling leader, but unfortunately he is devoid of many great ideas. His lack of focus and alcoholism extend the length of the production almost indefinitely. He does complete "Coven" and even gets a premiere in his hometown theater, but it takes him a long time. He never makes the movie "Northwestern" which he dreams of making. Perhaps he didn't have the vision to bring that movie to fruition, but he did want to make epic films and leave the everyday grind of life in the US. He had his dream. Unfortunately, he didn't have the vision to bring his dreams to life but he had an awful lot of determination. If people take potshots at Borchardt for his supposedly being "white trash" then I hope they are living lives of total sophistication and order because if they aren't, they're total hypocrites. Yes, Borchardt might exhibit characteristics of being "white-trash", but the purity of his belief in getting out from under the life he had, is absolutely inspiring.

"American Movie" blew me away on first viewing! This movie works on so many levels. It's funny, sure, but also sad, frustrating, depressing AND uplifting. The term 'feel-good movie' usually makes me run away screaming, but this movie DOES make you feel good, and not in your simplistic tree-hugging Oprah/Highway To Heaven way either. I believe in Mark Borchardt. I believe he's got the raw talent to do something worthwhile. He's certainly got the drive and motivation! I wish him luck in the future, and I hope he succeeds. "American Movie" also makes a star out of Mike Schank. His sheer good humour in the face of hard times is a wonderful thing to behold. Mike is also responsible for the unique acoustic guitar soundtrack of Bach, Metallica, and Mr. Bojangles which complements this movie perfectly. One of my favourite movies of the decade.

Spoilers herein. I am the perfect candidate audience for this. I watch a couple theatrical projects a day. I love film and am hungry for new and/or intelligent experiences. Plus, I have a passion for `folded' films, films that about themselves in some way. Moreover, this project comes with Sundance buzz attached, and trailer park voyeurism can be cinematic (`Gummo,' `Kalifornia,' even `Freeway'). What we have here is a film made (in ways that its making is overt) about the making of a film. The interesting possibility is the distance between the damaged filmmakers we see (lots of attention is given to the drug addled friend Mikey) and those we don't see. Those latter are clearly competent, detached and omnipresent - everything the crew we see is not. It gives us a smugness, but it gives us nothing else of value. What we have instead is sport: a soap opera structured in such a way that we can read and judge the stereotypes easily - a `Startup.com' where the characters don't pretend as much. This is pretty damaging stuff for a viewer. If what you are about is building a self using film as an aid, you can't do much worse. Its a drug, no more. Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 4: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

I enjoyed this one, because I can relate to it. At one time in my life I was trying to make films, and experienced many of the same problems Mark Borchardt did in trying to make HIS film. And I also went through a protracted period of self-absorbed arrested development, where I refused to grow. But then, miraculously, I got married, and had kids. I realized that being a struggling filmmaker was, in all likelihood, not going to feed my family. So I got a decent job and did what I felt I needed to do to make that happen. That is what an mature, responsible adult does. Mark hasn't faced up to that reality as yet, and so, in that sense, he is a retarded adolescent. For this reason, there is a hopelessness about him. Like Don Quixote, he seems so inept and self-deluded that he doesn't realize how bad off he really is. The viewer feels a sense of superiority and pity for him and his circle. Mark has kids and an ex-wife and bills to pay, but the film depicts him caring basically only about pursuing his "artistic vision". Despite this, Mark comes across in the film as a likeable individual, surrounded by a very interesting family and group of friends. Unfortunately, Mark lacks many of the things necessary to be successful both in life and in a career: maturity, responsibility, education, knowledge, life experience, prioritization, financial clout, etc.. Yet he trudges on, much like Ed Wood, apparently without any semblance of a clue. I guess we are supposed to feel encouraged by the spectacle of the "never say die" attitude of this noble individual, struggling against the odds. And man, what odds there are! Kiefer Sutherland, Colin Hanks, Tori Spelling and Angelina Jolie are all offspring of big-time film or TV people; no doubt, they will all want to direct some day, if they aren't already. How much room is there for an independent like Mark? It's like watching a guy hit himself in the head with a board, over and over again. Come to think of it, that is pretty close to what happens to one of Mark's actors, with the kitchen cabinet door, in one of the funniest scenes I have ever seen in any movie. Despite these misgivings and seeming criticisms, I truly enjoyed this movie, and would heartily recommend it to anyone. Uncle Bill is amazing. I have a friend who met both Mike and Mark and he told me that, in real life, these guys are just exactly the way they appeared in the movie.

I love documentaries. They are among my favorite genres of film. Before seeing this film I hadn't seen one that I hadn't liked. The premise for this film is a great one. The execution is well done. There were some times early on when I laughed and smiled. Yet as the film went on the more tedious and irritating it became. This could have been something special had the subject not been such an inarticulate, childish, inept putz. I appreciate his passion for film, but quit your whining. If you're short on funds, maybe you shouldn't have so many kids, or spend so much money on alcohol. Maybe you should have gone to film school, or at least graduated from high school. Maybe you should have lived life and gotten perspective and experiences that could add to your vision. There are so many people out there with stories that are interesting, funny and poignant. To see this guy chosen over any of them is nothing less than crass. If you want to do a documentary on a film maker, why not do one on someone from China or Iran, a film maker with REAL problems? Two final questions: Who takes a little kid to see Apocalypse Now? How many times did this guy say "man"?

This film has been lauded to the point of the ridiculous. "American Movie" is a boring documentary about a boring person so ordinary you'll find equivalents on just about every corner in America. It takes a long, hard look at a guy who's failed at just about everything in the interest of making an independent movie..or two. Were his failures for other than his own selfish pursuits or were they in the name of real art, the movie might have had a chance. America has an abundance of better stories to be told. This one should be flushed and many critics have good reason to be ashamed. Two thumbs up indeed!

When we are young, we all pick out an ideal occupation for ourselves: artist, actor, writer, rocket scientist, etc.. While most of us grow out of our pipe dreams, the main character of American Movie, Mark, has yet to let go of his(and at a thirty-something age too): to become a wealthy acclaimed director. Despite the fact that Murphy's Law won't leave Mark alone and something always seems to go wrong, Mark is able to persevere during each deterring incident with an even greater drive to reach his goals. His desire to be a director so controls his character that he sees any person or thing in his life as something to exploit to reach the goal. While I noticed other IMDB commenters are lambasting Mark's selfishness, I think it's an almost justified sort-of selfishness because for Mark, not becoming a famous director is equivalent to death. He talks incessantly about leaving some kind of mark on the world, and he sees filmmaking as a way to do this. Unfortunately any viewer of this movie picks up early on the fact that Mark has a near-zero chance of ever achieving his dream. Is he aware of this? No, not in the slightest, and none of his family or friends want to let him in on the secret(in fact even some of them believe in him). Strangely enough though, the disappointing future the viewer feels is sure to occur for Mark doesn't impede the ability to find humor in the film. This is a very very funny documentary. Most of the laughs come from when Mark is filming scenes for "Coven". There's a scene where an actor has to have his head break a cupboard, and it's just not working. Another scene has Mark's very old uncle Bill saying a few lines to the camera; needless to say, after 20 takes of a lot of headscratching and line-stumbling Bill finally decides he's had enough. A lot of humor sadly comes from Mark himself. His screenwriting, which he seems to think is worthy of a Pulitzer, is laughingly bad: "It's alright, it's ok, there is something to live for; Jesus told me so." "American Movie" is, contrary to what people might think, a documentary that anyone can enjoy(even though my sister, who watched some scenes, seemed to think it was downright bizarre). The fact that Chris Smith can successfully bring to the screen a film that inspires both sadness from Mark's depressing lifestyle to hilarity with scenes with Bill(who unfortunately passed away before the film was released) says quite a lot about him. I wonder how the dreamer Mark regards this documentary. Does he realize that it casts him in a bad light? Or that it sets up to show him as a fool in many scenes of the film? Or does he see it as something that will be shown prior to his own A&E Biography segment? It's an intriguing subject of wonder, and I hope the latter comes true for him some day. I highly recommend this movie: 9/10.

This is a very well made documentary. I read some of the other comments and I get a feeling that a few of these viewers don't watch too many documentaries (and all the reality TV crap doesn't count). Yes, this movie is painful at times because of the ineptness of the horro film director struggling to get his pals and relatives to help him make his demonic movie. But it shows someone (however debatable his talent)following a dream, a passion, a desire to do something. To break out of his hellish life of debts, and child out of wedlock and dreary 9-5 job. The camera captures wonderful moments of human behavior and just like project Greenlight, it shows what happens when people get in over their heads with trying to just film a simple scene (or a scene where someone's head has to go through a cabinet, or an old man has to clearly say ONE line and can't, etc.) BUT, a much better documentary about the same world is the much earlier 1975 documentary Demon Lover Diary - where someone tagged along as these Michigan guys tried to make their horror film. Hard to track down but highly recommended.