American Job

While not as slick (?) or well done as Smith's follow-up "American Movie", this LOW low-budget piece has a charm all its own. While we sympathize with the main character, we don't care if his situation improves. In fact, we hope he continues his aimless sampling of dead-end jobs just so we can tag along.

The real treasures are the conversations Randy has with his fellow loser co-workers. Though probably unintentional (because the acting is so bad), the characters' delivery of vacuous conversation has a unique tempo reminiscent of a Coen Brothers script, though not as extreme a caricature.

Smith tries too hard to shine light on the banality of everyday tasks with several montages of brushing teeth, driving, walking from place to place, etc. The resulting scenes drag on the already sluggish pace, but the destinations (the encounters with idiotic colleagues and superiors) make it worth the wait.

It isn't (as far as I know) out on video, but you might find it on the Independent Film Channel from time to time.

I, like another reviewer, caught this on IFC, was caught off-guard, and got enmeshed in this, the American Worker's world. Who can't relate to this guy? Who hasn't had one of those crap jobs--and this movie seems to give a nice crap-job cross-sectional--that makes you just want to walk off and forget it was there and that you were ever a part of it? You mean to tell me you've never had to scrub a toilet or fry a basket of fries? You've never endured the realness of the American Experience? That is what this movie is about (for those with questions as to the movie's point). This movie is about what it means to many people to be an American. A counterpoint to bootstrap mythology. Whether you find it ugly or beautiful may attest to the quality of your character. Or at the very least, to the quality of cinema you are used to.

When I caught it, I missed the first five-or-so minutes so I didn't know exactly what I was watching. Was it cinema verite' or simply narrative? There were a few clues pointing to the later--as was the cast listing at the end--but some of it was so real it was as if I had been there before. Like I was the guy that left the job before him. Characters this great are born, not written. All of them were great, up and down the chain of command.

This was one of those movies that stayed with me well after the first viewing, kinda like a less-severe Gummo or Dancing Outlaw. If that type of cinema is your cup of tea--if you are a fan of Godard, Solondz (whom I thought the lead character was at first), LaButte, Korine, or Wenders--I highly recommend this movie to you. You won't be disappointed. If you are stuck on the old model of cinema, stuck on the boom boom boom and the t'n'a, stuck on the antiquated arc with the feelgood ending, you best run from this movie and instead rent a copy of Forest Gump or Bad Boys II.

Good stuff: 9/10

I didn't find this movie boring in the least. I really enjoyed the "middle management" types that he dealt with in each of his jobs. I loved the conversations that occurred between the American Worker and each of his different co-workers at all five jobs. His work ethic was lousy but he was amusing. I am looking forward to seeing "American Movie" as soon as I possibly can.

This is a good movie, but not an enjoyable one. Sometimes i found it painful to watch. I've known people like the 'hero' Randy, sometimes I've been like him, and I've worked in jobs like the one's in the film. I'm lucky enough to be able to move on to something that fulfils me, but i fully understand the lifestyle. I don't know how much of the acting was acting, it was either uniformly excellent, or just completely real. Randy Russell's physical appearance carries his character perfectly. It would be interesting to see how he carries himself in real life. While sometimes boring as entertainment, the tedium was necessary. There were three or four points in the film that brought it all together, the beginning and the end especially. The first three minutes could be an amazing short film in itself.

The appearance of the woman at the reception shows everything that Randy isn't. The ease of conversation and the happiness with one's self that these few lines show are quite heartbreaking when we come back to our hero. I think the film is more about the social issue rather than about the system where one works. Yet then again it could be argued that the worker is a product of the system and society that he is immersed in. Tribespeople in Africa may have many many problems but from my experience they don't suffer this level of alienation, loneliness and despair that exists in the work structure. I don't know what the purpose of the film is. People existing under these conditions won't want to sit through this, and for people who've never experienced this life it seems like a nasty voyeuristic thrill. I only hope that seeing this film will make people want to change these conditions. A sad film, without much hope, but an essential one, if only to make people get up and make things better.

this film blew me away. chris smith managed to perfectly nail every summer and part-time job i ever had. i always knew that those experiences had been formative in some important but yet undefinable way. smith manages to actually make a film out of it. some might call it "boring", but to me that's half the point: he expertly communicates the pathos of the mindless job that no one cares about, not even the people doing it. if you've never schlepped burgers at a fast food joint to make some extra money for college, or spent countless mind-numbing hours in a warehouse with people going nowhere in life, then you may not be able to relate to this film.