American Movie (1999)

Directed by: Chris Smith

As an independent filmmaker so much of this film is relatable. As a human being not from Wisconsin, very little is relatable. This description however, is what makes American Movie a balanced and entertaining documentary.

Mark has spent all the money in his name, he's behind on all his bills and has massive credit card debt all for the sake of making a film he believes in. That's what its all about. Money isn't important, doing something you love doing and that you're good at is what is most important in life. Despite the fact that Mark is the second weirdest person I've ever seen on film or otherwise, he knows what he's doing, he's good at making movies and he loves doing it so much that he'll do it at all costs.

To make his movie, he recruits friends and family as the cast and crew and despite some of their best efforts to help, they are amateurs, they don't know what they are doing and they ultimately can't put their best efforts into the film.

The weirdest person I've ever seen has to be Mark's friend Ken. I can't believe that any real person is the way he is. He speaks slowly about the weirdest thing and whether it is supposed to be or not, its hilarious. The mix of humor and realism surrounding these characters makes the film work well. However, some parts of this movie are so, so weird that it is distracting, thus preventing it from being great. I left my viewing of this film thinking more about how weird the characters were and less about the making of the movie.

***