American Animal (2011)

Wow! Such a good movie.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Seems like most viewers are disturbed and offended by the main character Jimmy.Jimmy as a character is *supposed* to bother you.His wild and offensive nature is written to show you how deeply you're unwilling to let yourself live fully and truly to yourself.He says it himself in the last 30 minutes, but I suspect people just watch the movie as being about "some other guys in an apartment" and have no capacity to see art as a reflection to question their own lives.I feel that this movie was written from the "cutting edge" of what's *actually going on* in the world today, beneath surface appearances. It shines a brilliant spotlight on what, in my humble opinion, are some of the defining questions of this day and age: What do we do with this incredible opportunity that being alive in the 21st century affords us?If you were dying of a terminal illness (hint: you already are), and had all your basic needs accounted for (hint: you already do), what would you do with your life? Would you want to dance around your apartment alone and naked like Jimmy? If so, is that what you *really* would want?Would you want to "give back" by joining the workforce like Jimmy's roommate? If so, is that what you *really* would want?While watching this movie it's a good idea to put yourself in Jimmy's shoes rather than having a kneejerk reaction of seeing him as "just some crazy guy", while having the also-kneejerk reaction of seeing his roommate as "the sane one". Thank you Matt D'Elia for what you did here.

before watching i read the summary, then reviews by other watchers. then watched the film. so i was prepared for this odd film. not a particular good art film but definitely a tour into the mind of the director.first i believe jimmy is already dead at the beginning of this movie! why? because i cannot accept the 'acceptance' of his behavior by his roommate or the two girls. even if someone is dying there are limits to what others will tolerate. and jimmy exceeds this limit in every frame. as 'not blonde angela' kept saying "you're acting like a crazy person".yes jimmy was erratic and peculiar in life but what we (the viewers) are seeing is the friends memory of him and their personal interactions with him in the past. jimmy is gone and his reconciliation with death is their acceptance of his passing. everyone remembers others quite differently. james has his own issue with jimmy because he actually never told jimmy about his job. james merely imagines how jimmy would react to this because james broke "the agreement".i could write more but i think most people (if they actually read these reviews) will take my assessment of this film as 'too off the wall'!

Words like "wild" and "madness" are cliché, but there's really no other way to describe American Animal. Just like Jimmy's (Matt D'Elia) more straight-laced roommate James struggles to voice his own concerns, ambitions, and feelings in the face of Jimmy's relentless energy; it's hard to describe the film as anything other than completely mad. Ultimately this is what made it so challenging at times, but also so engaging. This is no holds-barred madness that refuses to be channeled in a single vein, and the film jumps from one bizarre scene to the next; each a different manifestation of Jimmy's deranged psyche brought to life. Jimmy is Fight Club's Tyler Durden reinvented; half as violent and twice as zany, obsessed with Hollywood actors and costumes instead of Project Mayhem and underground boxing. But like Tyler Durden, Jimmy fights what he perceives to be the conformist indoctrination of the masses with his own extreme doctrine and is mercilessly intolerant of his friends' more "normal" views. He leaps before he looks. He acts, then asks for forgiveness, or doesn't. The film drags and is at times overly dramatic, but the whole thing builds and builds until it spirals out of control. It offers some severe gut-checks amidst the chaos, offering clarity in the confusion, and it gives the film the uncompromising point it searches for.

I saw it like a month ago at SXSW and I still can't get it out of my head. WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. You have to see this whenever it becomes available. Can't wait to see it again! Don't want to say too much, words can't really do it justice. It's a one of a kind in the truest sense. Great acting, great writing, really colorful movie. Keep your eyes peeled. Am thrilled to say I was able to see it at its premiere at SXSW!The director said he was inspired by Bob Fosse and Mike Nichols, two filmmakers whose work I'm not all that familiar with (I know, shame on me), and I liked this movie enough to check out more of their movies. Anyway, I loved this movie. Wish there were more like it. Definite 10 out of 10.