Made in U.S.A.

Like most people I saw this movie by accident. I then hunted down a copy on VHS and found it in a bargain bin at my local Blockbuster. This film gets better on repeat viewing. As a fan of road movies this film is an unappreciated little gem. Like other lost films of the 80's, like Miracle Mile, I hope a DVD will be released eventually. Why is it worth checking out? 1. It stars the late, great Chris Penn and 80's bad boy Adrian Pasdar, of another 80,s cult classic, Near Dark ,fame. 2. The sound track arranged by Sonic Youth, inc. tracks by Timbuk 3 and World Party, like any good road movie ,is excellent, e.g. Wild At Heart and Easy Rider. 3.What makes this different, unlike most road movies, is that it shows the America not of wonderful scenery and natural beauty but of ecological and economic decline during the era of Reagonomics. 4. The cinema-photography is extremely powerful, showing us a normally unseen side of the American landscape. 5.With its unsympathetic characters, on the road, looking for redemption in one form or another,the film is a nod to Easy Rider. But this being the 80's they travel by stealing cars or trucks, pass through ecological disaster areas and the goal of their quest is a beach babe in a surfing magazine. The possible reason for the film's disappearance? 1.Lori Singer. Lori Singer. Lori Singer.Oh ,dear remember her? a flaky character played by Miss Kooky 1988. 2. The wolf.This story thread just does not make any sense at all. All cult films must have some moments of imperfection. But for it's bravery in going against the grain in the era of Rambo it deserves some recognition.

This is not just a road movie about two wild young men who are destined to go to California, who steal cars and everything else on their way to get there. It's not just a movie about Lori Singer being a hot looking, crazy chick. If you think it is, then you missed the real point of the movie. While those things are in the movie, they are the stories of a few, of many people, who have survived after seeing the decaying of their homes, brought on by industry and commerce.

The scenery shots are amazing to me as they show a real side of America that you will never see in any travel brochure. Almost every scenery shot was beautiful and flawed at the same time. The two towns that were evacuated are real. Times Beach MO. no longer exists, but the land that once was that town has since been cleaned up by the EPA, and is now a state park. The coal mine fire is still burning under Centralia PA. to this day.

I can't say that I fell in love with any of the characters in the movie. That might be it's main flaw, but I thought the part with the Lori Singer and the coyote was beautiful. It was in fact a coyote, not a wolf. It was, after all, in New Mexico.

Overall, I am glad I saved this movie on the Tivo. I almost didn't though, because I was expecting it to be a dumb party flick like "The Wild Side". I was very happy to find out that I was wrong.

This film is pretty dismissible because of its inane plotting and its dazed direction. Leads Adrian Pasdar and Chris Penn are pleasing to the eye, but there's not just not much to do with their characters, who lack any motivation for their puzzling criminal behavior. The movie's two draws are its striking locations and Lori Singer. Probably intended to be illustrative of the conservationist theme barely recognizable in the final cut, MADE IN USA treks through a number of shots of human civilization in decay, including a town poisoned by dioxide in Illinios and an old mining city in Pennsylvania. Taken in this respect, the film could possibly be enjoyed as a moody travelogue. Lori Singer brings life to her misfit vixen, an even greater enigma than her two brutish companions. MADE IN USA, complete with its insipid title, is like many a forgotten movie - strangely intriguing, but a complete mess in retrospect.

Chris Penn and Adrian Pasdar leave their dying coal town in Pennsylvania and begin a road trip to California with a spree of petty thievery and car theft. When they pick up Lori Singer, the crimes grow larger.

There was some fighting between director Ken Friedman and the suits at Hemdale over the final cut. What survives is a movie about two dumb drifters who fall in with an equally ignorant but politically radicalized woman. There's contempt in this movie, not just for the principals, but the society which created them. It's beautifully shot by cinematographer Curtis Clark, particularly the landscapes in Arizona and New Mexico. The people, however, are all ugly, either physically or spiritually. The editing is also poor; there's a major subplot in which they steal a truck, the truckers organize an effort to find them, and that's the last heard of them.

Friedman apparently showed his own cut at Cannes, there were lawsuits, and this version trickled out on tape over the next few years. While it is possible his version was a better one, we can't know that. What survives is a movie about three dumb drifters who stick it to the Man to little purpose.

First saw this movie many years ago as a rental. Feeling nostalgic and remembering it as an excellent film. After tracking down an ex-rental (never released as sell through in the UK) I sat down to rewatch. The story of rebellious youngsters who turn into environmental warriors although motives are rather dubious. Lori Singer is a total sex bomb in this film, Adrain Pasdar is very dark and moody and this is the best performance from Chris Penn in any film he has done. The scenery and cinematography is excellent and captures the non-apple pie side of America and the soundtrack fits the film perfectly. I'm waiting for a DVD release but for now if you have some time to kill I recommend this little known film for a thought provoking ride across America.