The American Side

source: The American Side

Anyone who knows me or has read my bio knows that I hail from the best kept secret in America, Buffalo, NY. I'm proud to be from Buffalo and this city and its people. In fact if you have ever met someone from Buffalo chances are they aren't ashamed of it and have a deep loyalty to the area. Because we are considered a small town, when big things happen here everyone knows about it, such as famous visitors, major events and movies being filmed here. We even get excited when Monday Night Football is in town. When local actor/writer/producer Greg Stuhr decided to make his next movie here, people definitely heard about it. With actors such as Matthew Broderick, Camilla Belle, Robert Forrester, Janeane Garofalo and Rober Vaughn all having roles, you can see why this would catch the eye of a small town like ours. The American Side is Greg Stuhr's love letter to his home and city he obviously loves. Visually it does more for the city of Buffalo than any other film made here, including Buffalo '66 and The Natural. There are familiar places at every turn, and even better is that they don't at all distract from the story and pace of the movie. This is the story of a small time private eye who is usually hired to find cheating husbands and track down runaways. He soon stumbles upon a case that is much bigger than anything he has ever seen or heard of before. His case goes back over 100 years and the secrets of one of history's greatest scientists. The layers of the onion quickly begin to fall off and Charlie Paczynski soon finds himself deep in the throws of a giant conspiracy full of secrets he shouldn't be knowing about. I did my best to look at this film as a movie fan and to give it my best and most truthful review. I will admit that my love of Buffalo and the perfect use of the city and its scenery does make me love it more than some will. It is a throwback to the mystery film noir's of the '40's and '50's. The lead character is the unlikely protagonist whose curiosity and dedication may be his downfall but does nothing to stop him from getting the answers he needs. The dialogue is what gives it the noir authenticity and what some people will find as a flaw in the film but is exactly what is intended and makes it a good modern film noir. The American Side is nearly perfectly cast, which is difficult for most independent films, especially with this type of genre. Greg Stuhr and director Jenna Ricker seem to pull off exactly what was intended with this movie and give it the fun factor that makes it so enjoyable. Buffalo natives will love seeing their city and references to our greatest treasures throughout, including Stuhr delivering the line, "top shelf where momma hides the cookies", a favorite of all Buffalo hockey fans who love their legendary play by play man, Rick Jeanneret. This is without question a film that can be enjoyed by all...but if you have Buffalo in your blood it will thrill you even more.

There are two things going for this movie. 1) Film noir tropes. If you like that sort of thing. 2) Shots of Buffalo. If you're from Buffalo, like Buffalo and don't feel like going outside, maybe you will enjoy this. I almost added the Tesla history to the list. I love Tesla and this played a role in my decision to see the film. Unfortunately, the movie became so fanatically ludicrous over Tesla I'd rather they left him out completely. The movie is otherwise awful. Painfully obvious is that the movie is essentially various characters walking up to Greg Stuhr and saying their lines to advance the plot. In this aspect it's just like an elementary school play, only with Matthew Broderick instead of your six year old. The plot makes less and less sense as the movie plays out and becomes increasingly hostile to common sense and logic. Much of the movie flits around to various locations in Buffalo for absolutely no rhyme or reason except to squeeze in as many Buffalo shots as possible. There is no exposition and no character development. Not a single character receives any real treatment during the film. At the end, the only names I could recall were of the lead actor and Nikola Tesla, who wasn't even in the movie. Overall, it's the type of product you might see from a film student who was only admitted to film school because someone on the admissions committee was snorting coke. Fun Fact: Actress playing government agent was The Bowler in Mystery Men.

Saw this film at an independent movie theater and plan to rent it to watch again. Quite frankly, it requires a second viewing because of its very intricate plot. I've read some reviews on here that make me think the reviewers went into the film expecting a more sensationalists film with lots of nudity and violence and were inevitably disappointed. This movie is much more of an art house film stylistically, actually the kind of movie that would've been in the mainstream theaters in the 70's. It's a great alternative to the current slate of Hollywood thrillers, where one action sequence is piled on another and the dialogue is totally generic. This movie moves along at a decent clip, but might seem slow if you're used to hyper kinetic editing. There is minimal violence, no sex or even nudity, and barely a curse word. There's some patter to the dialogue, but it's not self-aware. The actors (a lot you will recognize) all seem to buy into the world of the story and play it straight, which is something I personally prefer over all the smugly oh-so-clever dialogue we usually see today. To his credit, the lead actor, who co-wrote the script, surprisingly underplays his great banter and one-liners, the way actors used to before feeling the need to wink at the camera like they do now. I'd actually like to see this character again in another mystery. The real strength of the movie is the growing sense of a larger conspiracy that the down-on-his-luck detective has stumbled into. The stakes keep getting raised and the alliances keep shifting, and we're trying to sort it all out right along with the detective. Ultimately, that's the fun of this movie and why I want to see it again.

I'll start off by saying that I couldn't even sit through all of this movie. Mercifully, my DVD player froze up and stopped playing at one point and, rather than try to continue, I welcomed the opportunity to be relieved of this travesty and to offer my two cents here. Starting with the opening credits, I was immediately confused as to what mood or tone they were trying to establish. It was a somewhat confusing montage of still visuals combined with a bizarre love song that was heavy with harpsichord and tambourine. None of this really said "Nikola Tesla" to me. After this, I very quickly became bored and befuddled with a trite storyline dragged along by dry, uninteresting dialogue, which insisted upon wandering aimlessly for what seemed an eternity. The main thing that left me utterly perplexed, which I simply could not get past, was the question of the time period the story was supposed to take place in. On the one hand, the main character is a middle-aged bald guy with porkchop sideburns and a 70's-*-star style handlebar mustache, driving around in a 1970's Dodge Dart and wearing a leather jacket with short sleeve shirts that are about three sizes too small. Combine this with nauseating paisley neckties and dippy aviator sunglasses, and you get authentic mid- 70's machismo. On the other hand, his surrounding world is mostly present-day, with post-2000 cars everywhere and crowds of modernly dressed people walking around, some with cell phones. Yet strangely, despite such prevalent modern amenities, I never did notice a computer anywhere. For instance, there was a scene where a friend of the main character was shown using an old drafting table, rather than a modern computer, to help plan things out for him. Plus, Kojak here doesn't seem to have a cell phone of his own. Nevertheless, he seems always able to find a payphone or a bright yellow rotary phone readily available whenever he needs to make a call. As I said, my DVD player froze up shortly after all this, and I was both glad and relieved. My advice: forget about this movie and save the two dollars you'd spend to rent it. You may, instead, want to put that money toward one of many excellent biographies about Tesla. Or you might want to just carry it around in your pocket as loose change and have it ready the next time you need to use a payphone.

The American Side is terrific. In classic noir fashion, a wisecracking and, shall we say, ethically flexible private dick (an utterly charming Greg Stuhr) finds himself fighting the forces of corporate evil in the person of a queasily convincing Mathew Broderick. The movie is fast and brash, lovely to look at, and has a scene involving a human going over Niagara Falls that simply can't be missed. Like all good detective stories, there is a mystery to be solved, and this one involves a secret invention of the great polymath Nikola Tesla. There are codes to be broken, family intrigues to be sussed out, and of course the small matter of a potentially unstoppable army that has to be stopped. It's Tesla, man, the inventor of some truly dope stuff. If you don't know who Tesla was, I suggest you go find out.

This is one of those could've been films. With the right story and leading man it could have gone somewhere. But as it is it just meanders meaninglessly. The biggest problem here is the lead character Johnny Paczynski played by Greg Stuhr a gum shoe detective right out of the 1970's-80's. but in living in the present day. He wears a 1970's jacket (I owned one just like it) Drives a forty year old car and smokes incessantly, or has a cigarette always dangling from his mouth. Charlie lives in his office, drinking hard liquor and taking PI odd jobs. He always has an unpleasant nasty look on his face. I have seen quite a few detective films but I have never seen a bald lead character detective with lamb chop 1970's sideburns. We've seen completely bald lead star detectives; Telly Savalas as Kojak, and Bruce Willis. Willis would have been perfect as Charlie in this film. He does possess the serious rough edge swagger and can utter funny one liners with a slight tinge of comedy that is needed for this character. Unfortunately Stuhr does not possess these qualities. Stuhr looks more like a disgruntled CPA or a banker that needs a shave. Stuhr's slight frame and his demeanor are all wrong for this character. He doesn't have the sex appeal that Willis has, and when almost seduced by the lovey Emily Chase ( Camilla Belle) a client seeking his help, he brushes her aside. This film is like a paint by number mystery detective story that gets so caught up with itself that it becomes pedestrian and boring. Then you have actors just reciting lines in different scene locations. Matthew Broderick shows up in the film as the villain Borden Chase. Broderick looks as though he is imitating about a dozen past film villains. He also is imitating Marlon Brando and Orson Welles in their later years by becoming a Hollywood overweight actor. Broderick must have packed on thirty pounds. It was sad to see veteran actor Robert Vaughn wasted in a short scene portraying a grumpy eighty five year old tenant. Vaughn was the dashing handsome spy in the 1960's TV hit series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Janeane Garofalo makes a short appearance as elusive Agent Barry. I did not recognize her at first. For we all remember her as the adorable pretty cute actress in comedy films some twenty year ago. Here they had her wear no make-up and used harsh lighting that made her look old and horrible. With Stuhr as the film's screenwriter along with the film's Director Jenna Ricker. Stuhr must have pulled rank and insisted on playing the lead role here. Big big mistake. But of course the mistakes were not surprising since this was Stuhr's first produced screenplay. Along with inexperienced Director Ricker who has had only one other small film under her directing belt. The only bright spots in the film were veteran actor Robert Forster as Sterling Whitmore and the two excellent beautiful actresses Camilla Belle and Alicja Bachleda as Nikki Meeker. Meeker the key to the puzzle of this confusing film. Here Meeker is sought after by Russian and Serbian thugs out to obtain the diagram to some invention created that could be used for peaceful or destructive purposes. Any fans of Buffalo New York will get to see a lot of Western New York landmarks and buildings, with short glimpses of Niagara Falls New York The American side. A big big disappointment of a could have been should have been film.

I can for the life of me not understand why this movie was made. The plot is incredibly unoriginal. Using Nikola Tesla and a half-witted conspiracy plot as the main storyline just did not work. Presumably, the writer used him because Tesla is currently in vogue, I suppose had he written the script a few years ago the plot would have revolved around an apple conspiracy. While the acting was good and even featured some good actors the whole storyline was convoluted, boring, and just plain bad. I can't help wonder who financed this thing and more importantly why did Netflix buy it and subject its viewers to it.

I had an amazing time watching this noir film at a film festival in my city. They don't make movie's like this one anymore. I liked everything in it: the plot is slightly complicated, but compelling; the characters are portrayed beautifully, by both some recognizable actors and the unknown ones; there is a Tesla angle in the story which makes me even more like the movie because I am a Serbian :) (Tesla was a Serbian too BTW); the movie leaves it up to the audience to fill in the gaps, so I guess that is the reason why some people won't like it as much as I did. I highly recommend the movie to all the detective/mystery genre fans, give it a chance, you won't be disappointed!

The American Side Noir films are famous for their convoluted story lines. Noir fans love to find themselves in a labyrinthine maze of characters and sub-plots that seem to have no exit but a very, very dark one. There are plenty of classics that come to mind, but there are only two new films that measure up: 2005's Brick (dir. Rian Johnson) and 2016's The American Side (dir. Jenna Ricker, who also co-wrote it). Both of these films are self-aware of their own participation in the genre, so they may appropriately be called "meta noir." But whereas Brick seems to make its teenage characters awkwardly fit the noir archetypes, The American Side is more interested in testing noir archetypes against both a sense of place (Buffalo, Niagara Falls) and American history—really, a micro history of Buffalo's relationship with Nikola Tesla, the Serbian inventor who lit up the city using the kinetic energy of the falls. Buffalo plays a central role in the story, and it's a city that, like much of noir, gives us a Gothic sense of the past living in tandem with the present. For instance, protagonist Charlie Paszynski (Greg Stuhr, who co-wrote it as well) is a detective who seeks answers concerning a mysterious invention of Tesla's, and for a while you think the film takes place in the 1970s, alluding to conspiracy thrillers like All the President's Men. But then you see someone driving a car that can only be from the 2000s. These intentional anachronisms play into the classic noir sense of "space inheriting time"—that is, the spaces in which noir characters inhabit (dim offices, bars, grain elevators—it's Buffalo, NY, after all) say a lot about how characters feel and think. It's part of the expressionist movement that made its way into noir cinema. As you watch The American Side, you get the sense that you can read the motives people have, despite their best efforts to present a poker face. As you might guess, a half-dozen or more personages have some as yet unspecified relationship to Tesla's mysterious invention: a billionaire played by Matthew Broderick, a physics professor played by Grant Shaud, and at least four women who, taken together, both echo and defy how women in noir films seek and gain agency in a world of powerful men. Emily Chase is perhaps the classic femme fatale counterpart to Stuhr's private eye archetype, but don't expect some pat betrayal you might find in Double Indemnity or The Postman Always Rings Twice. Just when the hard-boiled dialogue is about to spill over, FBI agent Janeane Garafolo, prodigy scientist Nikki Meeker, or con-artist Kelsey Siepser are there to double down and ratchet up the suspense. With danger always around the corner, but Tesla's invention just out of Charlie's grasp (does it even exist?), the casual viewer will get lost in the maze just as so many have tried--and failed--to understand both Tesla the man and his inventions. Thus the plot echoes noir viewership: Don't be that casual viewer. Pay attention, take notes, and be rewarded for your own diligent sleuthing. I think there is a reason why The American Side stands out among thrillers: too often the violence is showy. Not so with Ricker's expert direction: I found one particular scene—let's just say it involves a lot of chasing and shooting—to fall much more in line with the way 40s noir films use violence to propel the narrative forward, even if studio heads used it to titillate and sensationalize. William Faulkner once professes having trouble figuring out who killed a key character in Chandler's The Big Sleep. Not even Chandler could say for sure. Now that's a story worth watching.

"That's a gene pool screamin' for chlorine." That is just one of many one liners I enjoyed in this film. And I have to like a middle aged balding guy who writes a film about the designs of Nicola Tesla and places it in his hometown of Buffalo. And he plays the lead - a churlish hardboiled detective (slightly Bruce Willis inspired). Good for you Greg Stuhr! His character reminds me of Bosch - if you have seen that Series. Buffalo and Niagara Falls make interesting locations. There are a lot of great shots of the Falls. There are four decent female roles which I like. Plus some major talent with Matthew Broderick and a few old stars like Robert Vaughn and Robert Forster, who has 177 credits to his name. Both cinematography and the sound track are excellent. It is slightly too long. The plot is a somewhat convoluted but I don't care. I like this movie and I like the aspiration of making such a film on a small budget. And would love to see Greg Stuhr playing a detective on one of the cable or network cop shows.