American Reel (2003)

	Christopher G.

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Rarely has David Carradine been given an opportunity to play such a dimensional character as Springer. Similar to one of Bill Condon’s better films, all of the characters have so much backstory lurking behind their dialogue that even the smallest interactions take on an emotional complexity. Michael Maloney’s performance as Springer’s best friend/manager particularly stands out. He takes full advantage of his character’s dimensions by subtly manipulating the audience into sympathizing with him even while they know his actions are detrimental to Springer. Such great performances would likely not have been possible if Mark Archer’s restrained directorial style had strayed into the overused quick-cut music video style that has dominated recent film production. Instead, he gives his talented cast room to interpret the scenes. I really enjoyed the film, so I find it to be rather unfortunate that American Reel is not reaching a broader audience.

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	David V.

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Quite honestly, this movie is long, boring and tedious. My wife fell asleep during it. Overall it's a low budget "B" movie at best. I enjoyed David Caradine in "Kung Foo" many years ago. American Reel is just slow drugery compared to that. I was surpised that D.K. could write music and that many of the songs in the film he wrote and performed. That is to his credit. But, A.R. was one of the longest 100 minutes I've spent in a long time. The cinematography is poor - kinda like watching a TV soap opera. The basic story is ok, but it could have been done in an hour or so. So, if you want to see D.K. - go watch old Kung Foo reruns.

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