Themes: Filmmaking, Obsessive Quests, Nothing Goes Right
Main Cast: Matt Weisman, Mark Borchardt, Mike Schank
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Director Chris Smith made this documentary about independent filmmaking which had its world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize. American Movie centers on a low-budget horror-film buff named Mark Borchardt, who grew up on such horror classics as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Night of the Living Dead. Now in his late twenties, he has decided to make the ultimate horror opus in the form of an indie feature entitled Northwestern, the scariest film ever made in his Wisconsin town. Filled with determination and passion (and very little else), this documentary follows Mark for a year and a half in the making of Northwestern. The audience sees Mark fending off creditors, including the IRS, and avoiding child support payments so he can make this direct-to-video flick. His efforts to round up cast and crew are disastrous, as there is nobody in his town who shares his knowledge and passion for moviemaking. Eventually he decides to star in his film and wears a dozen crew members' hats as writer, producer, director, cameraman, editor, and soundman. American Movie follows this man with a dream to his dying uncle's trailer park, where he raises three thousand dollars. Unable to make an entire feature for that price, he scraps the idea in exchange for completing one of his many abandoned short films, Coven, which also premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. The end is a world premiere as satisfying as getting accepted into Sundance. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide
Review
American Movie is a memorable portrait of delusional ambition in small-town America, a slice of blue-collar weirdness that continues to prove that truth is stranger than fiction. If it weren't for scrappy wannabes like Mark Borchardt, no one would ever rise above their station in life, but it's the huge gulf between Borchardt's reality and his dreams that makes him such a fascinating study in willful denial. A talkative Midwestern heavy metal fan with long hair, glasses, and a boatload of personal problems, Borchardt is a dead-end small-timer with enough of a gift for self-promotion that he forms a small group of believers, only to fail them with his under-thought execution. Better than any fiction film could, American Movie captures a bracing image of the wintry Wisconsin inertia of these people's lives. There's great freak show humor here, too; in fact, one might mistake this for one of Christopher Guest's faux documentaries, so funny are Borchardt's trial-and-error attempts to cast his film, perform stunts, and generate rudimentary special effects. But the sadness is the lasting impression, especially in Mike Shank, Borchardt's cheery burnout of a best friend, and his curmudgeon uncle, a reluctant tightwad who trades financing for companionship. An interesting side note about American Movie is that through its distribution and limited popularity, the struggling filmmaker has actually had the last laugh. Viewers may shake their heads at the raving and foolish chutzpah he allows director Chris Smith to capture, but Borchardt has since gained notoriety for his laughably bad Coven, a cult must-see in certain horror/filmmaking circles, and he appeared at Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival in 2000 and 2001. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Cast
Mark Borchardt - Himself
Mike Schank - Himself
Dean Allen - props/special effects; Tom Beach - production manager; Alex Borchardt - Mark's Brother; Bill Borchardt - Mark's Uncle; Chris Borchardt - Mark's Brother; Cliff Borchardt - Mark's Father; Monica Borchardt - Mark's Mother; Robert Richard Jorge - actor; Ken Keen - childhood friend/associate producer; Joan Petrie - location scout/associate producer; Tim Schimmels - actor; Matt Weisman - casting director
Credit
Michael Stipe - Co-producer, Jim McKay - Co-producer, Chris Smith - Director, Barry Poltermann - Editor, Chris Smith - Editor, Jun Diaz - Editor, Mike Schank - Composer (Music Score), Julie Panebianco - Musical Direction/Supervision, Chris Smith - Cinematographer, Sarah Price - Producer, Chris Smith - Producer, Bluemark Productions - Producer, C Hundred Film Corp - Producer, Sarah Price - Sound/Sound Designer, Peter Zinda - Sound/Sound Designer, Sarah Price - Additional Cinematography, Simon Lund - Visual Effects Supervisor, Raymond Chi - Associate Editor, Scott Reeder - Associate Editor, Scott Wintheiser - Associate Editor, Paul S. Mezey - Post Production Supervisor, Alexander Markowsi - Re-Recording Mixer, Inc Cineric - Title Design, Todd Bishop - Title Design
