Pulp Highway

I found a copy of this movie paired on the same DVD with the 1997 Gary Cole movie "Santa Fe". It was an apt pairing, because I found both movies to be extremely strange (though each was strange in its own original way.) Anyway, on to "American Strays"... As others here have pointed out, there is a strong Quentin Tarantino feeling to this movie, with its multiple stories and its quirky characters. Admittedly, with the movie jumping from one story to another every few minutes, the movie certainly never gets dull. But all the same, at the end the movie is somewhat unsatisfying. I think a big problem with the movie is that many of the characters are TOO quirky, coming across as live action cartoon characters instead of believable yet quirky people. Another problem is that while the movie tries to bring all the stories together at the end, there are two stories that don't really have a connection to the other stories that unfold during the movie. This movie really needed a few more rewrites before filming started. It's not an awful movie - as I said, it's not boring - but its unsatisfying edge will probably turn off a mass audience. In the end, the only people who will probably embrace the movie warts and all are those who are big fans of quirky low budget independent movies.

If you're a fan of twisted plots, crazy characters, and movies that may not exactly make sense, you need to see this film. If you enjoyed Guy Richie's films (Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels; Snatch) with multiple plots running together, seemingly unrelated till the very end, you will probably also enjoy this movie.

Perhaps my favorite thing about American Strays are the Strays themselves - a cast of some of the most bizarre characters ever seen in cinema assembled in a way that just barely makes sense. I find myself really rooting for some characters and wishing death on others.

There is some bad acting in this film, and some choppy dialogue, and some pretty unbelievable plots, but that's part of this movie's charm. It's almost a terrible movie, I always think, "i can't believe i'm watching this (again!)," but when it's over, I am so glad I watched it.

This movie is a secret treasure. I don't know anyone who's seen it, other than people I make watch it. It's hard to find, most video rental places don't carry it, so you'll just have to buy it.

'American Strays' is part of the quirky road movie sub-genre in the vein of 'Highway 61', 'Motorama' and 'Roadside Prophets', only it isn't anywhere near as good as those overlooked efforts. A self-conscious, contrived gallery of eccentric characters derived from equal parts David Lynch, and the Coen brothers, with some sub-Tarantinoesque dialogue thrown in. This movie tries much too hard in some ways and not hard enough in others, making it way too uneven and self-indulgent to satisfy either a mainstream or cult audience. When it does have a decent idea (e.g. Luke Perry's failed suicidal slacker hiring 'The Exterminator' to do the job for him) it goes nowhere with it, and every potentially interesting bit is sabotaged by lame and silly schtick like Jon Savage's serial killer vacuum cleaner salesman. Just about the only reason to watch this is for one of the oddest and most eclectic casts assembled in recent years. They range from cult heroes like Luana Anders ('Dementia 13'), Sam Jones ('Flash Gordon) and the late Brion James ('Blade Runner'), dependable character actors like Joe Viterelli ('Heaven's Prisoners'), Jennifer Tilly ('Bound'), and James Russo ('Donnie Brasco'), coulda been contenders turned b-grade slummers Eric Roberts ('Runaway Train') and Jon Savage ('The Deer Hunter'), and left field picks like Luke Perry ('90210'), Melora Walters ('Magnolia') and Patrick Warburton ('Seinfeld's Puddy). Apart from the spot-the-actor aspect, there's not a whole lot to recommend this movie.

Using elements from several other more popular films, American Strays brings together six different stories with the meeting room being a cafe in the desert. In one story we have Luke Perry as a man who cannot cope with his life and hires an 'Exterminator' to help him end his existence. The second story is about two hit men who are driving through the desert. One is cut up really bad and is wearing band-aids, the other is an overweight gentlemen with stomach problems. They really don't have much plot other than they provide the ending with some more bodies. The third story is about two people who are driving through the desert. They have a moment in their car where you question their friendship. Nothing becomes of this moment, and eventually they make it to the cafe. The fourth story is about a vacuum salesman. For more than half the film, we follow the path of Dwayne, a salesman who is willing to try any pitch to try to get his vacuum sold. Interestingly played by John Savage, this is the best story of the film. He travels from door to door in the desert demonstrating to potential buyers the effectiveness of his vacuum at a 'killer' price. The fifth story is about two lovers on the run from the law. Constantly in some sort of sexual embrace, these two have just robbed something, and are driving around and having sex whenever they want. The sixth and final story has to do with just a random family. Eric Roberts plays a man who is lost in the desert with his family in a minivan. All of these stories interweave together when they should all be going in separate directions.

What happened in 1996? This film made no sense at all. I felt like I began the film in the middle of the actual movie. There is no discussion at all, there is not even a hint, as to how all these characters happened to be in the same desert. All this film is meant to show is violence can happen to anybody.

While other are happy with comedic lines, I actually needed some pre-story to bring this film together. Literally, we jump right into the middle of the robber's story. We have no clue how he got the cash, or how long him and his lady friend have been together. We have no history of Roberts family. No clue what happened to him prior to entering the desert, or where they are headed to. All that we know is that they are as lost as I was in this film. What was the point of the train that Luke Perry kept seeing? Was it to symbolize that his life was about ready to arrive? How did the hit men get the cop in the back of their car, and why were they still carrying it? Who were the gangsta's and what was their part in this film?

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS......I NEED ANSWERS ANSWERS ANSWERS!!!

There were some decent ideas in this film, but without building a story it is hard to develop these ideas. My feeling is that perhaps the director made this film, and found that he only had the budget to release the second half. If that was the case, here is my advise to the director...scrap the project...there is no reason to beat a dead horse. A self-conscious, contrived gallery of oddball characters are simply derived from parts of David Lynch, and the Coen brothers, with some sub-Tarantinoesque dialogue thrown in.

Unless you, as a viewer, enjoy picking out odd character actors, then I suggest slowly backing away from this film because 'there is nothing to see here folks.…'

Grade: * out of *****

I think American Strays emerged when somebody got drunk in a film editing class and began splicing together outtakes. Bits and pieces from what could have been whole movies got thrown together to make one really disjointed piece of work.

That's all I can say about American Strays. In a sense it's a good title for the movie because it is about strays as the bits and pieces are put together like so much flotsam and jetsam salvaged from an ocean wreck.

A couple of the stories looked interesting like John Savage as the serial killer vacuum cleaner salesman, but in the end the whole thing is just a lot of mish-mash.