American Crime (2004)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Let's be realistic.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I thought this was another movie when I was preparing to watch it, so I was going to skip it. But in the beginning sequence I saw some names (not Kip Pardue, because I already knew he was in it); Rachael Leigh Cook (one of the most beautiful women on earth) and Cary Elwes. The director (Dan Mitz)…Didn't know him, neither the writers (Jack Moore, Jeff Ritchie). Anyway, I got into it.What I found out as I watched it is that is one of those, I don't know if independent or low-budget projects that try to bring some different and original stuff to the table. In that sense, the film reminded me to "My little eye". In a way, "American Crime" is not as good "My little eye", but it's not my intention to compare them or anything. As it happens with these projects, they're not always perfect. The film is flawed, and suffers from script problems, music, cinematography and direction.Writers propose an interesting enough premise to keep one focused for the entire ride, but before you realize, they're not giving any background to the actions of their characters, not even to the killer. It's OK, it's not an obligation to do that, but in this picture you start getting lost in the plot, because you just stop knowing who's who, what's what, why is everything happening in the first place. Big problems right there that remain unnoticed because of the outstanding screen presence given by the cast. I imagine these situations played by a lousy cast of actors…I would have been awful.I must say, first, that Kip Pardue (Rob Latrobe) it's a good actor. If I didn't find him good enough in "Driven", it was for the character he was playing; it was a very clichéd and easy character. But I saw him in other movies, and the kid can do it. Rachael Leigh Cook (Jesse St. Claire) lies between the best young actresses of her generation. Totally underestimated by the industry, she has stepped the lines of independent projects, giving always proofs of the unnoticed talent she is. In other cases, she has taken regular films to the top because of her performances ("Josie and the Pussycats", "Texas Rangers" "Tangled"). This performance is just one more proof. Anabella Sciorra (Jane Berger) is the weakest element of the cast, but that doesn't mean she's bad. Her character hasn't got the depth the others have, and she seems unimportant most of the time. And Cary Elwes (Albert Bodine) as a British investigator with personality problems…He's in top form, with an excellent accent and faces you'll remember.Going back to flaws, Dan Mitz makes mistakes in his own direction and cinematography. This is fault of the script, and it all combines to a major flaw. What can we follow when we're first watching a TV show (American Crime) hosted by one guy, that tells events occurred in real life, supposedly with footage taken from cameras, with personal interviews and people names…But what we see is filmed like a common movie, no cameras, and seems real, not to be shown by the TV show. The crimes in the show are about a guy that follows young women, taping them, and then kills them. Well, the characters get involved and are eventually being chased…And what about the show that was telling everything? At the end, when we have forgotten about the show, another guy talks as if the show was ending. Come on! We also get the actors presented in TV way at the end; looking at the camera.Then we have an easy music, not very trapping. There are these loud sounds with string sounds, but this is not scary anymore, because we can't know what will scare us. There's the obligated "cornfield chase" scene, decently edited by Todd Miller, who had proved his skills in "Joy Ride".As a consolation price, we can only think the characters knew they were being filmed, and that they were in one of those arranged shows, that pretend to be real, but actually never are; and everybody knows what happens.

WARNING WARNING DO NOT RENT!! OK Rachael Leigh Cook is a very goodlooking girl however that fact is not enough carrying American CRIME. It should be called American WASTE OF TIME. THe movie starts off with something mildly interesting but as the movie begins to unravel I began fighting off sleep.The plot was decent(although tried a million ties before) but the way the movie was shot was pathetic and the acting from Kip nobody was horrible. Cary Elwes was OK for like the first 10 minutes after that he just made me feel sick.If anyone likes watching a long boring horrible acting film with a worse ending then this flick is for you.

Well, I joke, but this really wasn't that bad of a movie, especially in the made-for-TV market. Cary Elwes' performance alone is worth sitting through the film. His quirky, neurotic documentarian wanna-be character is fun to watch, and you spend the first several minutes saying to yourself, "He looks a LOT like Cary Elwes, but..." The rest of the cast is solid if unremarkable, and the scenes that are supposed to be creepy are indeed so. What I liked about the ending was that it didn't tie everything up into a neat little package and drop it into our mail slot as the murderer did with his videotapes. The only thing you're sure of at the end is who WASN'T the murderer, because all the prime suspects are either incarcerated or dead...or are they? It's a fun twist on the murder mystery, with stories within stories, and the whole thing framed by documentary-style monologues and interviews.

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.