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DVD American Animal
 Run time: 95 min Rating: 4.1 Genres: Comedy | Drama Director: Matt D’Elia Writers: Matt D’Elia Stars: Matt D’Elia, Brendan Fletcher, Mircea Monroe |
| Storyline Jimmy is a terminally ill young man. But from today on, he has decided that he is ‘happy’, and that he is no longer sick. Jimmy’s roommate James is a healthy, dreamy young man. They’re best friends. They live together. They don’t do much of anything, and seem very happy that way. But trouble arises when James announces that he will be leaving for his new job in the morning. Jimmy sees this as the destruction of the perfect little world that they’ve set up, and what ensues is a humorous battle of wills as James heads towards the real world and Jimmy falls deeper and deeper into his isolated world of illness and make-believe. Written by Anonymous |
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| Plot Keywords: male nudity, male frontal nudity | |
| Details: Country: USA Release Date: 14 March 2011 (USA) |
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In the low-budget indy genre, a lot can be forgiven, less than perfect acting, rough effects, poor lighting, touchy at times sound, shaky camera-work, all sorts of things can be overlooked if need be, but the cardinal sin is overwrought, uninspired, navel gazing writing. Jesus Christ, man, you're going to spend thousands of dollars because you have a story to tell, and THIS is it? Perhaps, one should consider that just because we can, doesn't always mean we should. If I had to use one word to describe this film, I think I'd go with, 'wasteful.' Not like, it wasted time (which it did) but like the fact that it was made is a wasted of time, money, resources, storage space on someone's macbook pro, and in their hard drive, needless hours of use on a poor poor camera that had to sit through the whole thing for god knows how long. Jesus. Just, Jesus.
before watching i read the summary, then reviews by other watchers. then watched the film. so i was prepared for this odd film. not a particular good art film but definitely a tour into the mind of the director.
first i believe jimmy is already dead at the beginning of this movie! why? because i cannot accept the 'acceptance' of his behavior by his roommate or the two girls. even if someone is dying there are limits to what others will tolerate. and jimmy exceeds this limit in every frame. as 'not blonde angela' kept saying "you're acting like a crazy person".
yes jimmy was erratic and peculiar in life but what we (the viewers) are seeing is the friends memory of him and their personal interactions with him in the past. jimmy is gone and his reconciliation with death is their acceptance of his passing. everyone remembers others quite differently. james has his own issue with jimmy because he actually never told jimmy about his job. james merely imagines how jimmy would react to this because james broke "the agreement".
i could write more but i think most people (if they actually read these reviews) will take my assessment of this film as 'too off the wall'!
American Animal is a very strange and thought provoking film that portrays the life of two best friends, Jimmy and James, who live in a bubble. They both have all the money they will ever need from their parents, and thus they have nothing to do but eat, sleep, have sex, and squalor. The juxtaposition between their life outlooks however keeps you sucked into the movie and wondering where each of these characters will end up. Jimmy, the drugged, animalistic, jobless, and idealistic friend, who has a severely skewed perception of reality, lives in a world with no rules. James however, is the character that represents someone who wants to have a job, give back, and make something out of his life by being an active participant in society. James's discontent with Jimmy's brain-dead outlook and stagnant life creates an immense amount of friction between the two, causing the viewer to stop and think, what is life all about? If you had all the money in the world would you remove yourself from reality and selfishly enjoy false physical pleasures, or would you give back to the world that gave you so much and keep trying to become a better person? As twisted as American Animal is, these valuable questions are necessary for you to contemplate in your evolution as a human being.
AA was definitely an experience… One of the most unique art films I've seen. At times it reminded a lot of American Psycho and Requiem for a Dream. Some parts seemed a little over the top and melodramatic but overall I thought it was a very interesting and well done film. It was also interesting to make the connections with the various movie nods within the film itself (for example: Gangs of New York).
Whenever I consider writing a screenplay I always want it to center around a main character whose mental health is questionable but he can't be called outright crazy, I think that the writer/director/star Matt D'elia did a superb job of it in the film and it made for a very entertaining and layered story that seemed somewhat one dimensional at first.