American Crime

A pretty average thriller is made much more uh, interesting with Cary Elwes coming in and putting in THE most "What was he thinking?" characterisation and accent I've seen in a looooong while. The story is about a local camera crew trying to figure out who's behind the killings of local women. They receive mysterious tapes at the station, and they're of the women the killer is stalking! This gets the attention of a crime show, called "Amercian Crime" which is hosted as Elwes. OK, now, on to his character.. Try to imagine Cary Elwes imitating John Huston imitating Robert Stack, and you have a pretty good idea of where this is coming from. MAJOR scene chewing from Elwes is in place here, so much so, that, yes, it distracts from the story. So much so, we're trying to figure out if this, yes, is indeed a comedy, the way Elwes carries on. I mean, what was the director thinking? Or was indeed, a "Living In Oblivion" type of thing? (I need to see that again)

The crew of a television of a small town composed of the reporter Jesse St. Claire (Rachel Leigh Cook), her lesbian supervisor Jane Berger (Annabella Sciorra) and the intern cameraman Rob Latrobe (Kip Pardue) are investigating the disappearance of the stripper Diana Cox (Julie Cialini). Rob received a videotape and found the shooting of another woman, Linda Mitchell (Amy Arce), in the same video, and he is convinced that the killer stalked his victims while filming them. When Jesse vanishes without a trace, the reporter Albert Bodine (Cary Elwes) from the syndicated television show "American Crime" joins the team in their investigation.

First of all, I can not say if "American Crime" is a thriller supposed to be funny or a dark comedy. Indeed, it is a very boring low budget movie, with a promising beginning, but silly in the end story. Cary Elwes is simply awful, being a caricature of the most important character of the plot with one of the worst performances I have ever seen. Consequently, the direction is terrible, wasting what could have been a good story. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Crimes em Série" ("Crimes in Series")

When I saw the really cool and creative opening credits, I thought this movie might have a chance. Wrong! The filmmakers should've spent less time on the opening credits and more time on the rest of the movie. Throughout I was trying to figure out if the movie was supposed to be a thriller, a comedy or all of the above. After finishing watching, I'm still not sure. Although I admit that I didn't see the film entirely, missing bits and pieces of the middle where I lost interest and watched something else. When I returned, it seemed I didn't miss much. I just couldn't figure out what to make of it. It tried to have a documentary feel to it, but who interviews anyone in a car from outside the windshield? (I'm referring to those scenes where Anabelle Sciorra was talking to the camera through the windshield while driving.) It tried to have a realty-TV feel to it. It tried to be a lot of things. But in the end, it just failed to be a good film. Too bad, some really cool graphics went to waste here.

What I loved most about this movie was its willingness to avoid shock-gore for effect. It's remarkably rare these days for a thriller/horror movie to rely on mood and camera work to achieve suspense instead of graphic violence. This movie covers similar territory to Cary Elwes' other recent thriller "Saw", but focuses instead on the characters and mood. Even Elwes' somewhat stilted performance feels more natural here, appropriately fitting an aspiring, but inexperienced, TV journalist. Kip Pardue, Annabella Sciorra, and Rachael Leigh Cook fill out a cast of journalists quite literally caught up in their latest story about a serial killer. The film borrows liberally from 'Scream' and 'Blair Witch Project', but brings it's own odd combination of story techniques, which doesn't quite work. The film's aspirations are noble, and I enjoyed it thanks to the fact that it didn't follow typical formulas when the opportunity to do so arose repeatedly during the story. I'm always willing to forgive a few weaknesses for an ambitious work that doesn't take the easy formulaic answer. American Crime is an original film, and while you're guessing constantly, it's unlikely you'll have figured much out before the end.

This one might be one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Though, it had the ultimate Bonus: Rachael Leigh Cook. I only rented this movie because I knew she's playing a part.

It starts pretty promising, because the opening credits are presented very originally! Then it just gets worse with every minute. Somehow it feels like the writer had an idea the director didn't understand. If you want to torture yourself for two hours, - go rent the thing. I'd love to make a review on it but I'm trying to forget I ever saw it. Please Rachael, if you read this: Don't do that kind of crap. You're way better than this! Not even your magic could save this one.