American Movie
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: November 5, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
84
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
Brilliant, mind-boggling.
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Of all the many documentaries that take you along on a movie shoot, one of my all-time favorites is this delightfully scrappy, sometimes poignant, often hilarious show.
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
Frequently hilarious, if overlong.
90
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
This unassuming, insistently entertaining documentary has the virtue of a great subject. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
That's why American Movie cuts so deep: It's about the American dream, about not giving up, about being true to yourself. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Often coming across as simultaneously out of control and self-possessed, Borchardt can't have been an easy target, but the filmmakers seem to have nailed him. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Wildly entertaining and quite poignant. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAmy Taubin
Although I don't begrudge Borchardt his year of fame, what he doesn't seem to understand about his exploitation creeps me out. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
It's never entirely clear whether Borchardt is also an object of ridicule for documentarian Chris Smith.
80
NewsweekAndrea C. Basora
Like its subject, American Movie works entirely on its own quirky terms. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
Touching, frequently hilarious. Read full review
88
USA TodayMike Clark
This thorough original is a wall-to-wall exercise in gallows humor, a movie whose full funny/sad effect doesn't hit until you reflect upon the subject and the cast of characters.
50
Boston GlobeJay Carr
It seems more a geek show than a slab of marketing wizardry. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleRussel Smith
A revealing, heart- and mind-engaging insight into a uniquely American character type many of us may have known. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Extraordinary. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A tacit auteur-to-auteur endorsement of the inalienable right to make movies--regardless of talent or sobriety or adult responsibilities--is what gives American Movie its uneasy kick. Read full review
80
Film.comJohn Hartl
A chronicle of the exasperating circumstances that yield cinema gold -- or lead. It almost doesn't matter which; it's the process that counts here. Read full review
100
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Smith's gleeful, touching documentary records the agony and the ecstasy of realizing your dream, and intangible ways that such dreams help keep people alive. Read full review
100
TNT RoughCutSara Raskin
Near-perfect editing, and cleverly poignant dialogue.
90
Film.comErnest Hardy
Though a little long, the film takes us right inside both the creative impulse and the margins of American life. Its triumph is to show those two things as being deeply, wonderfully connected. Read full review
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
As I watched American Movie, a lot of it struck me as untranscendent misery. But in hindsight it seems less hopeless. Read full review
88
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Hysterical-depressing, vividly sobering. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Although overly long at 107 minutes, American Movie is an incisive, largely absorbing work and a far more mature effort than Smith's "American Job." Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A very funny, sometimes very sad documentary. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
A revealing, intimate, quirky and generous portrait of nothing less than the American Dream.
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
But this is pretty honest and true filmmaking, nonetheless; try as you might, you can't detect the leer of the satirist.
100
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
As quintessential a story of American ambition as Welles' own "Citizen Kane." Read full review
100
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The rare documentary that combines a wildly charismatic subject with an elegant structure...not-to-be-missed. Read full review
80
Film.comPeter Brunette
Hilarious and often moving. Read full review
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