this was one of those movies that i watched and at the end said, "why the HECK have i not watched this?". american movie is now one of my favorite documentaries. it's raw, incredibly honest, incredibly funny, and also very sad.
a basic premise of the film is following mark borchardt, an aspiring filmmaker and his friend mike shank, as they try to finish a feature length film called "northwestern". it chronicles the trials and tribulations of a struggling filmmaker. first of all, i personally related to a lot of the content in the film purely on an empathetic level. mark's frustrations, his joys, etc. evaluating the film from a viewer's perspective, i don't think this film could be any closer to the truth when it comes to a documentary. there's a lot of talk about documentary filmmaking, and whether or not it can truly be unbiased and truthful. this film has to be close. the subjects are treated with an immense amount of respect, and when they look like idiots, it's only because they are. no michael moore-isms here. no deceptive editing, heart-string pulling cross cutting, or staged shots for the sake of pushing a political agenda. you can tell that this film was made out of a love of its subjects.
man this movie is funny. it's also pretty rough in places, so don't say i didn't warn you. i guess i was so sucked into the story, the reality of the characters - their hopes, dreams, successes and failures.....it's a near perfect film. definitely check this movie out. 5 out of 5 stars.
watch trailer HERE.
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