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American GunRating:
Release Date: 17 February, 2004 Retail Price: $14.99 OUR Price: $13.99 You SAVE: $1.00! Cast: Complete Cast (5 total) |
American Gun Reviews
COBURN'S FINAL SHOT
AMERICAN GUN offers the marvelous actor James Coburn in his last screen role. Director Alan Jacobs captures a surreaslistic atmosphere as he explores the trajectory of a gun that was used in the killing of Coburn's daughter (a pre-Sideways Virginia Madsen). Jacobs cleverly dispenses clues as to this gun's path, but the viewer is caught up in the tragic dilemma of Coburn, who wants to know how this gun reached the point of where it resulted in his daughter's death. Coburn is excellent in his performance, as is Masden in her understated delivery. Barbara Bain (Mission Impossible's Cinnamon Carter) adds some level headed credibility in the role of Coburn's wife, and Alexandra Holden is very good as Masden's wayward daughter.
I must admit I didn't see the ending coming, but if one thinks back to Jacobs' clever manipulation, you can see how it ends up this way.
At times depressing and fatalistic, there is a warmth and a lot of familial integrity shown in this well made indie.
American Gun is more than just a few plot twists....
Just when I think I have seen all the films that could possibly leave me vulnerable, I find this under-rated and powerful DVD. I watched this on Showtime the other evening and it left me in that "wow" fog a good movie can leave behind.
If you start watching AMERICAN GUN and are tempted to stop because Virginia Madsen apparently leaves the storyline early, don't! Not only is her character crucial to the overall plot, James Coburn knocks you out cold with his caring, but angry-at-the-world-and-himself portrayal of a father who loses a family member to a fatal gunshot.
I hesitate to describe too much of the plot since there are unexpected turns and twists that shouldn't be revealed, but I can elaborate on the style and lovely quietness of AMERICAN GUN. Maybe "quiet" isn't the whole truth since various gunshots explode throughout the movie as James Coburn explores the history of one gun that has traveled through many different hands. The loudness is also there when he looks back at his own experiences with ammunition in war.
AMERICAN GUN hit me so hard because it is an emotional film more than anything else. At first it seems to be about how a husband and wife each handle grief differently or how one man is determined to find his daughter's killer. In a way, that could sum it up, but there's also a lot about closure and what we think we see versus what is actually there.
The reason this indie deserves more acclaim is because it takes you places you don't expect to go and you are able to experience that great mental process called "thinking." Watch this by yourself--or better yet, rent it with a group of friends who truly enjoy discussing (but not talking to death) a great work of art.
On a side note: The whole cast is just spectacular (a small role by Alexandra Holden will get you a bit teary-eyed), but Coburn and Madsen shine.
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