25th Hall of Fame

As someone who has a general disinterest in documentaries, but often enjoys looking at the behind-the-scenes aspects of film production, I was curious if I'd find American Movie compelling or agonizing. After a false start a few weeks ago, I knew I had to wait until I was in the right mood to watch it. With a more open mind, I did manage to sit through the entire film in one sitting, and the experience ultimately ended up being a mixed bag.

Neither Mark Borchardt nor any of the friends and family members he was attempting to make a feature film with had any screen presence for me. None of them were particularly good at talking to the camera, and the lazy cadence they generally spoke with made it hard for me to pay attention to them. Borchardt seemed far too full of himself, and refused to face the fact that he had unrealistic expectations for his project.

But not long in, I started to find the whole group strangely compelling. This carried on through a large chunk of the film, and while I still didn't like Borchardt, I did find his determination admirable. The runtime did however seem to drag, and I found my interest waning significantly until it started showing shots from Coven near the end. I enjoyed how brutally honest American Movie was about the realities of trying to make a film on a low budget, but overall I didn't find it particularly engaging.

It's criminal I tell ya! Just totally insane and all together unfathomable that I've never seen a Brigitte Bardot film before... Sure I've heard her name ever since I was a kid in school. Everyone knows the name Brigitte Bardot, so why haven't I seen her in anything until now.

I gotta say she could act up a storm, at least in this film. I totally believed the emotions that she was pouring out of her and onto film. I was clearly on her side from the get-go even though she did seem troubled with a capital T. But you know what, that troubled character was very believable and grounded in reality. She was both self destructive and needy at the same time with an underlying resentment of her sister and mom. Believable stuff for sure.

Gawd! I hate that guy in the screenshot above. Sami Frey was the actor who played a very well done, ******* of a person! Sometime during the movie a subtitle came on that described Gilbert (Sami Frey) perfectly...