American Crime

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.

The reason I may have enjoyed this film is because I had extremely low expectations when I decided to sit down and watch it. I liked the idea of it and enjoyed parts of it but ultimately it is a very poorly executed wannabe thriller with so many clichés that it's almost sad. It's a good time if you turn your brain off so don't expect anything too intelligent at all.

The acting isn't terrible, I've definitely seen worse and Rachael Leigh Cook is definitely easy on the eyes but there are better actors out there for sure. The story was definitely a good idea but it was executed very badly and in the end, it fell flat for me. I wanted it to work and I wanted to love it but it was nothing more than an okay film for a rainy day.

I really have nothing more to say about this one. See it if you want, but if you decide not to, you really won't miss much.

The film started with an arty but lengthy credits intro. Next there is an implausible scene where the central characters get run off the road in the middle of nowhere and are shown a dead body by some yokels. No explanation is ever given as to why they were run off the road and they don't seem too bothered by it either.

The plot then begins to change into a reality TV style thriller which ends up being more of a poor attempt at comedy. After about half an hour the film is getting pretty desperate, I wanted all of them to die, and quickly. The main characters:

Cary Elwes: I know he's English (sort of) but this gives him no excuse to create such a ham awful character with a ridiculous accent. It's a pity as I thought he was better than this. Maybe the director found him funny. I doubt anyone else will.

Annabella Sciorra: She is a persistently moaning Lesbian who despite being in mortal danger never believes anyone's warnings and gets in really silly situations.

Kip Pardue: Carries a camera around with him everywhere looking surprised anything and everyone. He finally copped it in the last scene. He looked surprised.

Rachael Leigh Cook: Acts the main character poorly and looks like she's wearing a wig. Little explanation as to why she leaves the film half way through. Nevertheless anyone leaving this film is a good thing.

Overall I'm bitter because once I start watching a film I always have to see it through. I probably thought it couldn't get any worse after the first few minutes and it did. I remember seeing The Last Horror Movie recently and thinking I would never see anything worse. I was wrong.

With such an impressive cast, I had high hopes that this movie would be an edge-of-your-seat thriller. But sadly it never reached its potential. The story was poorly written, with gaping plot holes, inane dialog and absurd characters. The directing was sophomoric, reminiscent of a music video or weak commercial, leaving me with the impression that a different director might have presented the writer's ideas more effectively. And the acting was mediocre at best, with the exception of Elwes, who was simply awful (I've been a fan of his since The Princess Bride, and it was his name that convinced me to rent the movie, so this was a huge disappointment--particularly on the heels of Saw, which truly was an edge-of-your-seat thriller).

I honestly can't recommend this movie to anyone, not even die hard fans of any of the cast. It's too much of a waste of time.

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.