Every few years, something
magical happens to remind you why you live in and love Milwaukee. Maybe it's the
occasional Packers Super Bowl victory, or the feeling you get after sipping that
cold beer on the Miller Brewery tour.
Milwaukee means different things to different people -- that's for sure. Fortunately, there's a new film will strike a chord with any Milwaukeean who is privileged enough to see it. It's almost a guarantee that "American Movie" will leave you feeling a little closer to your hometown.
First things first. "American Movie" is a documentary. Though it seems too good to be true, it is quite real (the subjects of the film attended the screening and answered questions about themselves at the end.) Following the "Blair Witch Project" hype, one might have expected "American Movie" to be a spoof. After all, this is a film about the making of a film. Sound familiar? Well, it's not. Though "Coven," the movie the subjects are shooting, is truly the stuff parodies are made of, American movie is as real as it gets.
And that's why it's so great. Mark
Borchardt is a struggling Milwaukee filmmaker. He works at the Valhalla cemetery
to make ends meat. He edits his film at UWM and shoots scenes at the 41 Twin drive-in.
Any astute Milwaukeean will recognize dozens of landmarks, and the footage of
the 1996 Packers season verifies the film's real timeline. The family is real.
The friends are real. Even the footage from Mark's childhood is real, though you'll
still leave the theater wondering if you've been had.
Indeed, the characters do seem larger than life. Uncle Bill is every South Side 80 year man, times 10. He mumbles, drinks peppermint schnapps and comments on the weather in a way that is funny yet terribly disturbing. Mark's friend Mike is a burned out and recovering drug addict who spends his time and money playing scratch off lottery games. Mark is a driven but distracted father of three who wants to finish his movie so badly you want to jump inside the screen and offer him a helping hand. These are the kind of characters we all can, at least a little bit, relate to and embrace.
Amazingly, "American Movie" was shot over two years in Milwaukee, and one
can only imagine how much footage the crew compiled to accumulate a film that
never drags or grows old. More amazingly, the film won the Sundance Film Festival
Grand Jury Prize, which means Milwaukee might have to endure the same kind of
reputation Minnesota earned from "Fargo."
But this is different, at least from a local perspective. While Fargo made Minnesotans out to be a bunch of Midwestern idiot stereotypes, "American Movie" brings out only empathy for the subjects of its documentary. Sure, the Milwaukee accent is there, and you can't miss it. There's no shortage of "dude's" and "ya know's."
Filmmakers Chris Smith and Sarah Price did a fantastic job creating this funny and honest documentary. "American Movie" will touch you in a way that will make you proud, while still allowing you to poke fun at your hometown. For when Milwaukee forget our working-class roots, we've forgotten what Milwaukee is all about. Trust me, this film won't let you forget. In fact, it will drive home what the American dream, Milwaukee style, is all about.
Grade: A+
For showtimes in Milwaukee, visit the OnMilwaukee.com Movie Guide.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
