“American Movie” is a documentary about losers, hope, and life. It is based on two guys from the north side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. One is an amateur horror filmmaker. His name is Mark Borchardt, and he lives with his mom. He has the dream of making a movie called “Northwestern.” He sees it as the moment in his life when he’ll become more than he is right now. It will not be solely a horror movie, as he’s making now, but will be a story of life, based on his own experience.

The tone for “American Movie” is set when he realizes he has no money. The sight of him reading his tax bill is both hilarious and depressing. He truly only has his dreams to hold on to. With this absence of funding, he abandons his dream of “Northwestern,” and begins, with equal passion, the filming of a horror short titled “Coven.” If he can sell 3,000 copies of “Coven,” he’ll be able to pay off the debts from that project, and have enough to begin “Northwestern.” If not, he’s done for.

He has a loyal friend named Mike Schank—a real-life stoner. He regales the audience with stories of times he’s been high, and one time he almost killed himself, waking up in a hospital, where he promptly reached for the drugs to take more, but realized the doctors had taken them out of his pockets. He plays the guitar, plays the lottery, and hangs out with Mark.

The other characters of interest are the actors and crew of “Coven.” Some are loveable, and some are arrogant. Mark’s elderly Uncle Bill gives the funding for “Coven” and becomes a central character in the story. We are able to see the contrast in the hopeful and eager Mark, and the more disillusioned, hopeless Bill. One of the funniest scenes is when Mark needs Bill to repeat a line he said in the movie that had an obscured recording. So, they put old Bill in a car, hold the microphone, and promptly go through fifty takes, waiting for the old man to say the sentence without error. This is funny partly because of Bill’s constant repetition of the same mistakes, but also because these are real people with real flaws. They are not Hollywood stars slumming it, but people at the bottom trying for something better. The optimism that lies beneath everything they do is refreshing.

“American Movie” is a documentary that, in reality, is a bittersweet comedy. In the beginning, we laugh AT these pathetic losers. Then, we see their passion and the odds stacked against them. In one scene, Mark’s mom is asked if she thinks Mark will succeed in his dreams. Contrary to expectations, she says no. The poignance of this lack of faith in her son makes us respect his drive even more. Director Chris Smith has no commitment to a feel-good movie, but infuses a sense of the reality that may hold down Mark and Mike forever. By the time “Coven” airs at a college screening, we are no longer laughing at them ,but finding inspiration in their struggles. They take on the feeling of people we all know—they could almost be anyone in any town.

In the final scenes, Smith brings home the greatest message of all. He does not make Mark and Mike out to be losers who have made it big. He does not promise that their dreams are going to come true. He innocently shows that they are content with what they’ve done and keep trying to do. They have added something to the world, and have accomplished in putting a movie together. And, as Uncle Bill says, if the real American dream is to “make everyone happy,” then maybe these two are a little richer than what their tax statements say.

by: Steven Snyder steven@zertinet.com, Published 2001-08-01