Rage of Honor

AMERICAN SILVER SCREEN
A film march past by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***

"We're in America today, and we're ready to roll," says the
indefatigable filmmaker, Mark Borchardt. Chris Smith's hilarious
documentary, AMERICAN MOVIE, chronicles the innumerable trials and
tribulations of Mark as he sets off to make his magnum opus,
NORTHWESTERN. (Most of the film, however, has Mark sidetracked as he
attempts to finish COVEN, one of his many cheap horror flicks, so that
he can raise enough cash to complete NORTHWESTERN.)

After winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, AMERICAN MOVIE was
picked up by Sony Pictures Classics for a nationwide theatrical release.
The only recent movie quite like AMERICAN MOVIE was the much better
HANDS ON A HARDBODY, which should be required viewing for anyone who
likes either documentaries or comedies. What the two films share is a
respectful but honest view of the poor part of America either ignored by
Hollywood or excessively romanticized. Both take place in the
cinematically unpopular middle of the country.

Actually, AMERICAN MOVIE isn't about making a movie, that's just the
context within which to tell the story of someone in search of the
American dream. "The American dream starts with me each and everyday,"
Mark proudly tells us. And for the 30ish Mark, the day starts off with
his paper route so that he can earn some of the money he needs to stoke
the fires of his ambitions.

In the Silicon Valley, young adults dream of striking gold with the next
Internet IPO. In Milwaukee, in the bleak, cold heartland of the
country, Mark sees film as his ticket to success. Driving out of his
poor neighborhood of tiny houses and mobile homes, he goes to an upscale
community to show us where he wants to live. Were it not for the
fabulous success of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, we might write-off Mark's
cheesy, slasher flicks as being forever destined to be financial
disasters. But if another indie filmmaker can ride to fame and fortune
on something that looks like a bad home video, why not Mark, who even
shoots with real film rather than videotape?

Mark, a likable guy with a scraggy beard and long unkempt hair, talks a
mile a minute about his aspirations. He figures that when NORTHWESTERN
is in production, he'll need a bunch of assistant directors just to hold
the crowds back. Still, Mark, who comes from the Ed Wood school of
filmmaking, readily admits his deficiencies. "There's such corny
dialog," he says of his third draft of NORTHWESTERN's script, "that it'd
make the Pope weep."

Although you'll find Mark charming and funny, not everyone has a
charitable view of Mark's potential. "His main asset is his mouth," his
own brother tells us in candor. "He's best suited for just working in a
factory."

His buddy and fellow filmmaker, Mike Schank, who looks straight out of
Central casting, acts like his brain was fried years ago. The rotund
Mike, with his tie-dyed shirt and his wild hair and beard, relates
stories of his abuse of drugs and alcohol, which he has finally given
up. He steals every scene in which he appears with his sweet, out-of-it
demeanor. Sent with careful instructions on how to put up flyers for
the world premier of COVEN, Mike walks off without taking the flyers.
When reminded by Mark, Mike just gives him a puppy-dog grin as if to say
that if you didn't place the flyers directly into my hands, it can't be
my fault.

As delightfully inviting as the documentary is, it makes you yearn for a
fast-forward button. After a fast-paced, promising beginning, Chris
allows his film to lose focus in the middle. Including too much footage
of Mark's semi-senile, elderly grandfather, Smith lets the picture get
sidetracked. Footage of Mark bathing his grandfather might work in some
other film, but here it just bogs down the narrative. His grandfather,
as one of his financial backers, deserves a place in the documentary,
but perhaps not so prominent a one.

Although the documentary is about Mark's films and whether they would
ever get distributed, Chris Smith and Sarah Price, the two filmmakers on
AMERICAN MOVIE, maxed out their nine credit cards buying film stock for
two years, as they followed Mark around. They eventually did attract
some investors and, after their success at Sundance, a distributor. The
American dream appears to have come to them quicker than it did to Mark
and Mike, but in America there is plenty of dream to go around. And
Mark, certainly, isn't one who is likely to ever quit.

AMERICAN MOVIE runs too long at 1:49. It is rated R for fake-looking
gore and frequent profanity and would be fine for teenagers.

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