American Movie

1999 narrative documentary

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Budding filmmaker Mark Borchardt doesn't want to shovel snow or vacuum carpets at the cemetary anymore, nor does he want to deliver The Wall Street Journal at six in the morning. Instead, he wants to make a feature film called Northwestern. Oh, he wants to read The Wall Street Journal, as well. Unfortunately, he is short on cash. He decides instead to finish his short film, Coven. He begs money from his skeptical Uncle Bill and gets help from a bunch of his friends, some who are undoubtedly mentally challenged. Finally, he's able to premiere his horror masterpiece at a Milwaukee theater, more than likely confusing the audience in the process.

Mark Borchardt might have some talent. Indeed, some of the shots in Coven, including in the dvd bonus materials, are pretty cool. Unfortunately, empty pockets and alcohol get in the way and probably kept the short from being what it could have been. Plus, Mark might be a little crazy. This documentary following him around during his quest to make his dream come true is very funny, sometimes almost devastingly sad (although not as sad as a whole as it probably should have been), and really pretty inspiring. I enjoyed every scene with Uncle Bill, especially the rerecording of his opening lines from the short film. When Mark said, "Alright...take 37," I chortled. The scenes with Mark trying to put one of the actor's heads through a cabinet door and where he's describing in great detail the cleaning of a toilet at the cemetary were also great. The filmmakers (the real ones...not the subject of the documentary) treated the "characters" with respect, never getting too fancy or taking cheap shots. Reminiscent of the equally entertaining Lost in La Mancha (although arguably not as depressing), this beautifully shows how painfully difficult it can be to want to make something.

This was my brother Mark's recommendation.

Here I am wondering what I would look like with Mark's hair: