American Perfekt

source: American Perfekt

I'd heard so many different opinions about this movie. At first it sounded like just another psycho-killer road movie (although with a cast of some of the greatest actors around) but then it got chosen for the Cannes film festival and won a bunch of other 'serious' awards. Anyway, one night my mom and dad saw it at a festival and when they got home they were arguing like mad - my dad (who hates EVERYTHING) called it a masterpiece - my mom said it freaked her out and shouldn't have been made! After that I didn't know what to expect but I knew I had to see it. Well, tonight I did and oh my God, it turned me upside-down. I wouldn't go so far as to call 'American Perfekt' a masterpiece, but it's smart, funny, beautifully acted and directed, and has moments of such straight-faced hilariously chilling brilliance that it made me remember why I love movies. I won't try and explain the plot in detail but Amanda Plummer plays a woman lost in the desert after her car is driven off the road by a mysterious car. She gets picked up by a criminal psychiatrist and a strange romance develops between them based on making all their decisions on the flip of a coin. Plummer is better than I've seen her since 'The Fisher King' (and even more beautiful) and Robert Forster is AWESOME! Better even than 'Jackie Brown'. David Thewlis is alternately funny, creepy and downright sad. And watch out for Chris Sarandon, too, as a gentle Deputy to Paul Sorvino's gung-ho Sheriff - a great performance that reminds us why he got nominated for an Oscar once (Dog Day Afternoon). The gorgeous Fairuza Balk is also excellent in a really intense performance much more mature than the usual flashier stuff she gets asked to do. Yeah, 'American Perfekt' starts off slowly but only because it's lulling you into a false state of security while it's crawling under your skin. And writer/director Paul Chart pulls it off without resorting to being 'above' his audience ie: despite all the clever different layers to the film, you never feel like it's trying to prove how smart it is - also, everyone really looks like they're having fun. All in all, 'American Perfekt' isn't so much a psycho 'art film' as a really neat and original movie that's been 'artfully made'. Give it chance and don't be afraid to laugh at how nightmarish it becomes. A warning to the faint-hearted, however - although Chart keeps the sex and violence fairly low-key, it has a habit of coming out of nowhere and is presented in such a matter-of fact way that it WILL stay with you (just ask my mom). There's another great score from Simon boswell, too ('Shallow Grave', 'Trainspotting'). Now, where did I put that shovel ....?

I hope this movie receives more attention now that it's on video. Robert Forster gives a great performance that anchors the film. Also, the casting director has populated this effort with a very talented cast that is willing to go as far as the story requires. Yes, the road movie is a tired genre but I think the performances elevate the movie above its premise.8 out of 10.

American Perfekt is a disjointed yet darkly compelling little nightmare of a road movie, a dusty ode to bowers of the American southwest left unchecked and decayed, populated by wayward souls with perpetual heat delirium, vixens, psychopaths and hustlers alike, who saunter through lurid story lines that often end in bloodshed and madness. In the vein of stuff like Oliver Stone's U-Turn and Kalifornia, we once again pair up with some extremely off colour characters as they navigate both the tangled web of highways that lace the States as well as the human capacity for greed, lust and heinous physical violence. The characters, and actors for that matter, who populate this stretch of highway are an especially bizarre bunch, starting with Robert Forster's vacationing criminal psychologist Jake Nyman. Forster is quite the unpredictable guy, usually found in calmly benign protagonist roles, yet just as capable of stirring the pot with evil antics. Here's he's opaqueness incarnate, driving from one place to another until he runs into two sisters played by another couple of acting hellcats, Amanda Plummer and Fairuza Balk. Jake is basing each decision of his trip upon the flip of a coin a-lá Harvey Dent, a tactic which simultaneously causes trouble and indicates how unhinged he might really be. Plummer is weird and Balk is weirder, but neither as weird as David 'Professor Lupin' Thewlis as an awkwardly placed character who seems to exist just to jump into a scene and throw the mood off kilter. There's others running amok too, including Geoffrey Lewis, as well as Paul Sorvino and Chris Sarandon as a pair of state troopers who serve as comic relief. Forster is scary here, playing a guy who is psychologically hard to pin down or get a read on, and he's got some dynamite scenes with Balk in the third act, the two talents lighting up the frame. It's pretty far south of coherent though, mostly just these freaks terrorizing each other and engaging in puzzling romantic flings that only make sense to them, I suppose. If feverish, borderline abstract, sun-stroked neo noir is your thing, go for it. You can certainly do worse than spend a certifiably bonkers ninety minutes with this terrific bunch of actors.

Fate is what this movie is about. You got a fine cast of actors in this movie, the results are really moderate. Amanda Plummer plays Saundra, a disillusioned pro who happens to have a fiasco with her car. A huge station wagon blocks her path when she leaves a diner, the driver turns out to be an entertain tries to give her back her lighter that half-works. Robert Forster plays Jake, a shrink who's kinda superstitious. He has a silver coin that seals his fate. David Thewlis plays Santini, a traveling performer with a shady past. All three go into a cheap motel where a murder later on takes places. Fairuza Balk plays Alice, a strung out woman who is searching for her sister, Saundra. When you get all into one place, the results are explosive. To me, this movie is rather common than exciting, though it's not boring, it just needs to get to understand the story better. 2 out of 5 stars

#12 American Perfekt Ernest Santini = The Wasted Character Pros: A strange story, unusual, with a great scoop that despite not being the most original story (very Hitchcocknian), has great moments of suspense, depressing and sadness that are very well thought out, really make you think in many ways about what happens in the same, David and Amanda Plummer are the best part of the film, both Characters (Santini and Sandra) have a great complexity and nuances that only both can create and I must say they did an excellent job. Santini's character is a very picturesque magician who, without having to or fearing it, crosses the path of two people who will damage his existence. Cons: Unfortunately when Santini and Sandra die the film begins to decline, all fascination begins to fade, Robert Forster and Fairuza Balk end the film together, if this had not happened I think American Perfekt would be a much better film and very possibly could have entered my Top 10! What a pity

A bleak defeat for continuity. There is a car chase at the end of this movie - Paul Sorvino drives a police car. Any promise this movie may have shown up to this point DISAPPEARS as we notice Paul is driving TWO COMPLETELY different police cars from shot to shot. One police car has the "bar" style police lights across the roof. The other police car has five small police lights arranged in a V formation on the car roof. Sorvino turns the corner in one car, emerges onto the road in another. Over and over. It drove me crazy. Way to go, film crew. What a fantastic way to throw a year of your life and thousands of production dollars in the garbage.

Tarantino has something to do with this, I just can't figure out what. Like Natural Born Killers.... you know it was Quentin, but not a word if you look up the film. Later it comes out he wrote it. Same thing here. The plot, the actors, the mysterious revelations.... Tarantino is related to this somehow. Need 10 lines of text so here's #6.................................. Need 10 lines of text so here's #7...................................... Need 10 lines of text so here's #8.................................... Need 10 lines of text so here's #9..................................... What a dumb requirement.................................................

I would like to have all the footage as shot from the start to the finish of American Purfkt. There were many times where the scenes that are not seen beyond the final cut come vividly to my memory .the gas station shot,of the coin that stood up on end after a toss,the true romance on the trip by Amanda and Robert, or when the 9mm fell apart in Chris's hand while the two other were hanging from the rafters,or when the barn burned down and the hurried prep to the new barn across the freeway,or how Ferusa kept loosing her sunglasses in the strangest places, Paul Sorvino's heated anger while viewing my redirected Shot gun clearing of the store . or the dog in the trash can scene or the beer bottle that flew from payroll into the pool parallel to all of us waiting in line,or dolly Dan and Bill Wages slippery seat incident . 39 days in the Palmdale aria and 6 for the wrap. I miss them all.Included were the pooI side chats with Ivan .I last met him at the Russian knights film festival.. If you look real hard you may have a quick glimpse of me in the barn. I would have gave more to the vote If the edit was a little different and that the scenes shot that were not included over the top cop chase scenes with Paul Sorvino.

The 1990's were, for a time, a very exciting decade for cinema. Staggering out of the 80's with a coke hangover and indulgence fatigue, we experienced somewhat of a revolution in cinema. What was once ridiculously overblown and self-aggrandising became understated, simplified and strayed from the norm somewhat. We started referencing movies within our movies, we turned our attention to the exploitation cinema of the preceding decades and the film noir of the early half of the 20th century. One of the sub-genres which grew substantially in popularity was the road movie. The likes of True Romance (1993), Natural Born Killers (1994), Thelma & Louise (1991) and Kalifornia (1993) popularised the concept of taking the actions out of the city and onto the highways. This gave the movies a sense of freedom and adventure which is of course, the very ideals which America was founded upon. They were, in the most part, pursuit and / or escape movies. The anti-heroes featured were usually on the run from something, be it the law or an unhappy lifestyle. Slightly late to the dance was American Perfekt (1997), which features, upon reflection, some fascinating casting choices. Robert Forster, Fairuza Balk, David Thewlis, Amanda Plummer and Paul Sorvino all play their parts magnificently in this almost forgotten slice of oddball Americana. Plummer plays Sandra Thomas, a woman who clearly hasn't managed to get her life completely together and who is driving across the desert to meet her sister Alice (Balk) who has absolutely no interest in getting hers together at all. After a near fatal crash, Sandra meets Jake Nyman (Forster) who helps her out as her car is practically totalled. After the setup, we are thrust into a world of seedy motels and small town cops, of bar skanks and confidence tricksters (Thewlis is particularly slimy, repuslsive and wonderful in this, however, nothing will ever frighten me as much as his performance in 'Naked'). No one seems particularly trustworthy and this creates a Twin peaks feel to the movie in that it keeps you constantly guessing as to what the motives and true back stories of the characters. It was written and directed by Paul Chart, an artist who has done little else since, but if this is anything to go by, another offering would be graciously received. The film spirals into a tense, dusty thriller which has both a charm and a quality that whilst being very much 'of the time', hold up exceptionally well fifteen years later. If you haven't yet had the pleasure of American Perfekt and enjoyed the aforementioned road movies, then this would be a great investment of a few hours. Read more at zombiehamster.com