American Gun
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American Gun
Plot
Three stories of how America's obsession with firearms impacts its citizens are explored in this independent drama. Carl Wilk (Donald Sutherland) runs a gun shop in Virginia that has been owned and operated by his family for generations. Carl sees the shop as his family's legacy without paying much mind to what happens with the weapons he sells. When his granddaughter Mary Ann (Linda Cardellini) needs money for college, Carl gives her a job in the store, and while she's hesitant at first, she becomes fascinated with the merchandise as time passes. On the West Side of Chicago, Carl Carter (Forest Whitaker) is the principal of a high school where violence has become a sad fact of life. As Carl and his wife, Sara (Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon), fear for their young son as they worry he could either fall prey to the violence of their community or embrace it himself, Carl receives a severe emotional blow when Jay (Arlen Escarpeta), one of his most promising students, is discovered carrying a pistol. And in Oregon, Janet (Marcia Gay Harden) is a single mother still troubled by the death of her teenaged son three years before, who took his own life after killing a handful of his classmates in a violent incident at a high school. As Janet deals with sharp words from the community, many of whom believe she should be held responsible for her late son's actions, she is unsure how to handle her surviving son, David (Christopher Marquette), who is now of high-school age. American Gun was the first feature film for writer and director Aric Avelino. ~ Mark Deming, RoviCast
- Donald Sutherland - Carl Wilk
- Forest Whitaker - Carl Carter
- Marcia Gay Harden - Janet
- Linda Cardellini - Mary Ann
- Tony Goldwyn - Frank
Credit
Arlene Gibbs - Co-producer, Lou Tocchet - First Assistant Director, Aric Avelino - Director, Richard Nord - Editor, Forest Whitaker - Executive Producer, Caroline Kaplan - Executive Producer, Jonathan Sehring - Executive Producer, Christopher Adams - Executive Producer, Holly Becker - Executive Producer, Jeff Skoll - Executive Producer, Peter Schlessel - Executive Producer, Peter Golub - Composer (Music Score), Devorah Herbert - Production Designer, Nancy Schreiber - Cinematographer, Ted Kroeber - Producer, Traci Spadorcia - Set Designer, Lori Dovi - Sound/Sound Designer, Aric Avelino - Screenwriter, Steven Bagatourian - Screenwriter| American Gun (2002 Film), American Grindhouse (2010 Film) | |
| American Guys (2008 Film), American Gypsy: A Stranger in Everbody's Land (2000 Film) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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American Gun
For the 2002 film, see American Gun (2002 film).
| American Gun | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Aric Avelino |
| Produced by | Ted Kroeber |
| Written by | Aric Avelino Steven Bagatourian |
| Starring | Linda Cardellini Tony Goldwyn Marcia Gay Harden Donald Sutherland Forest Whitaker |
| Music by | Schuyler Fisk Peter Golub |
| Distributed by | IFC Films |
| Release date(s) | September 15, 2005 (Toronto Film Festival) March 22, 2006 (limited US) |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Language | English |
American Gun is a 2005 film produced by Participant Productions, IFC Films, IFC First Take, and Spirit Dance Entertainment. It was written in 2001 by Steven Bagatourian and Aric Avelino and directed by Avelino as his directorial debut.
Avelino attended Loyola Marymount University and made the film with many LMU alumni[1], including producer Ted Kroeber.
The film took two and a half years to finance. The central idea came from a "Column One" article in the Los Angeles Times. In addition, the writers were influenced by a friend from the Chicago school district who related stories about how students brought guns to school, not to use them on campus, but because of the dangerous neighborhoods they live in or walk through to attend classes. Avelino was very appreciative of the directitorial advice of Forest Whitaker, one of the film's producers. The first actress attached to the project was Marcia Gay Harden.[2]
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Contents
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Plot
American Gun centers around three stories dealing with the results of gun use: an inner city school principal (Whitaker), a single mother (Harden), and an A student (Cardellini) who works at her family's gun shop.[3]
Distribution
According to boxofficemojo.com, American Gun took in $24,098 in a limited release from one to six theatres in a little over 10 weeks in theatres from March 22-June 1, 2006. It was featured on the IFC program First Take.[4]
Cast
- Marcia Gay Harden - Janet Huttenson
- Forest Whitaker - Carter
- Donald Sutherland - Carl Wilk
- Lisa Long - Sandra Cohen
- Chris Warren Jr. - Marcus
- David Heymann - Producer
- Chris Marquette - David Huttenson
- Amanda Seyfried - Mouse
- Nikki Reed - Tally
- Joseph Kell - Security Guard
- Tony Goldwyn - Frank
- Rex Linn - Earl
- Kevin Phillips - Reggie
- Davenia McFadden - Felicia
- Linda Cardellini - Mary Ann Wilk
- Schuyler Fisk - Cicily
- Michael Shannon (as Michael J. Shannon) - Jerry
- Charles Duckworth - Connie
- Todd Tesen - Barry
- Melissa Leo - Louise
- Gary Paul Clark - Supervisor
- Ali Hillis- Gun Shop Patron
- Garcelle Beauvais (as Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon) - Sarah
Awards
- Independent Spirit Awards Nominations[5]
- Best Feature, Ted Kroeber, producer.
- Best Male Lead, Forest Whitaker.
- Best Supporting Female, Marcia Gay Harden.
References
- ^ LMU ALUMNI MAKE FILM DEBUT WITH “AMERICAN GUN”, by Victoria Walsh, March 23, 2006.
- ^ Taken from Avelino during a Q&A at The Screenland, in Kansas City, on April 22, 2006.
- ^ Synopsis from The Screenland in Kansas City
- ^ IFC Unveils Day & Date Program, indieWIRE.
- ^ IMDb's awards page.
External links
- American Gun at the Internet Movie Database
- LMU alumni press release about the movie.
- American Gun official site
- IFC "First Take".
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