Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

American Movie Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 21, 2024

It used to be said that everyone wanted to write the Great American Novel, but maybe now it’s that everyone wants to make the Great American Movie (or maybe it’s the Great American TikTok video…who knows in 2024). But in the 1990s, making the Great American Movie was certainly the big dream driving one young man, hungry for success but starved for funds: not just any motion picture, but his motion picture. The documentary film American Movie shows audiences what it looks like to pour one's heart and soul, life and limbs, and every nickel and dime into achieving the dream through hard labor, a lot of favors and loans, and a little bit of good fortune along the way.

Mark Borchardt (himself) wants to make a movie, and that movie is Northwestern. It's a low budget film. It's a work in progress. It's starring no name actors. The director often works on the film from the comfort of his Oldsmobile while parked at the airport. But he cannot finish the film for lack of funding. Instead, he turns back to an older and also still uncompleted film, Coven (pronounced with a long "o" because the traditional pronunciation sounds too much like "oven"), in hopes of selling 3,000 copies at $14.95 each to pay down debt and bankroll Northwestern. As he faces production challenges, from budget to ADR troubles, the 35-minute movie nevertheless begins to come to fruition as debt piles up, nerves become frayed, and the finished product always seems so close yet so far away.

"So close yet so far" certainly seems an apt descriptor of Mark Borchardt's life. He's living his dream, but the dream is probably not how he drew it up. There's something of a running sub-theme throughout the film that follows the family's following of the Green Bay Packers, who win Super Bowl XXXI at one point in the film, and one can imagine Mark drawing up the playbook for his life much like the playbook for a football game: "if this goes here, then I can go there and score." But he's certainly playing in the deep minor leagues of the filmmaking industry, with locations in frigid Wisconsin and actors who are not exactly A-list material manning the roles in his film. His mother helps him shoot scenes, and a good sport though she may be, she can't quite communicate and man the equipment in an efficient manner without burning too much film. Uncle Bill, who finances much of the picture (and earns an Executive Producer credit) struggles to recite his lines for a critical bit of ADR. Here is where the movie is fun, compelling, and moving (for any number of reasons) as it explores the sort deeply independent making of Coven with the movie equivalent of duct tape and bailing wire.

The film shows a few clips from Coven, but American Movie feels incomplete without seeing the full finished product at the end (it is not even included as an extra on the Blu-ray). American Movie left me wanting to watch the film, sincerely, and not to poke fun at it or critique it, but out of a real, genuinely built curiosity to see how all of Mark's hard work paid off in the end. The same is true, but to a much lesser extent, for Northwestern. Obviously neither film will compete with the genre's heavy hitters, but seeing firsthand the blood, sweat, tears, heart, soul, stress, and absolute desire that went into the making of the movie, American Movie is simply left feeling incomplete without immediate access to the finished product, so viewers should be aware of that and track down a copy of the film as quickly as possible, even before watching American Movie, to satisfy that desire as quickly and efficiently as possible.

American Movie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony Pictures Classics delivers American Movie to Blu-ray with a 1080p transfer framed in its native 4x3 aspect ratio, presenting the film with vertical "black bars" on either side of the 1.78:1 HD frame. The image is certainly adequate with the native film content looking suitably sharp and modestly grainy, preserving the natural filmic appearance. The picture is not necessarily remarkable in any way but holds serve to offer good core skin and clothing details while bringing nice clarity to the many 90s aesthetics and elements seen throughout the film, making this a nice little time machine sort of transfer that offers a real-life glimpse into the way things were a few decades ago. Color saturation is good. The palette is certainly not vivid or robust, but there is enough depth and accuracy to please. White balance is fine, and so are black levels. Skin tones look healthy and realistic. There is no serious print wear and the encode semes fine. All in all, this is a very serviceable, at worst, and solid, at best, Blu-ray from Sony.

American Movie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony brings American Movie to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is the textbook definition of "simplistic." And it's OK that it's simplistic, because the sound design is as basic as they come. There is very little going on here, with no real score or music and only a few basic sound effects working to help define the location, like a TV playing football in the background, a cash register working, or a few other minor bits that help to fill environments and create light atmosphere. There is a very basic sense of place which helps even in the quiet dialogue scenes or shooting out in the field. The track offers decent front side stretch but never pushing to the far reaches of the front left and right speakers. Most of the content is centered, and that includes dialogue, which is nicely clear and imaged perfectly to the center speaker area, so much so that many, if not most, listeners will be fooled into believing that the center channel is active.

American Movie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of American Movie contains a commentary, deleted scenes, and a trailer. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Audio Commentary: Director Chris Smith is joined by Producer Sarah Price, Mark Borchardt, and Mike Schank to discuss the film in what a well rounded track that is not always engaging but offers a satisfying journey through the film.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, window box, 36:56): A lengthy assortment of scenes that are identified to set the stage. They wouldn't have added to the pace of the film but offer some interesting, but not always necessary, additional insight into the film.
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 4x3, 2:44).

American Movie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm not sure if "inspiring" is a word I would use to define American Movie, as it prominent on the advertising materials, but it's certainly a fascinating ride through the life of a small independent filmmaker whose struggles to make the film -- whether financial or simply getting a line for ADR just right -- make for compelling cinema all their own. It's a fun journey, in some ways a story of triumph, and in some ways a story of reality; Borchardt is certainly not a household name in the movie business, but he did live his dream, at least to some degree. Sony's Blu-ray is a nice way to watch the movie, offering faithful video and audio and a couple of good extras, including a commentary track and a lengthy assortment of deleted scenes. Recommended!