Lost in America

Warner Bros. | Release Date: February 15, 1985

7.2	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Ratings

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SpangleSep 4, 2017

Perhaps one of the best directors who is never really spoken about as such is Albert Brooks. Delivering quality film after quality film in the 1980s and 1990s, Brooks is the indier version of Woody Allen. Often starring in his own films,Perhaps one of the best directors who is never really spoken about as such is Albert Brooks. Delivering quality film after quality film in the 1980s and 1990s, Brooks is the indier version of Woody Allen. Often starring in his own films, exploring relationships between men-and-women, exploring mortality, exploring weird life decisions, and always led by a neurotic and frantic demeanor, the work of Brooks may be rather unsung nowadays, but is impossible to ignore. In Lost in America, Brooks' David Howard gets fired from his high-paying advertising job after missing out on a promotion. Convincing his wife Linda (Julie Hagerty) to quit her boring personnel director job, the two liquidate all of their assets and buy a camper to travel across America. With about $150,000 to their name, the two hope to see the country, find themselves, and finally settle in some small town on a huge lot of land that costs just $50,000 or some other cheap figure. Naturally, things wind up going very differently.

Lost in America is a film about the death or misuse of the American dream. Told from youth that if you are smart, go to college, and put your nose to the grindstone, you will rise to the very top of the corporate world. Unfortunately, what is neglected to be mentioned is that there are only so many chairs left and the music is just about to end. Hoping to become Senior VP, only to be transferred across the country, David is a man scorned by this dream. Linda, for her part, is stuck in a dead end job. Both have given just under a decade to their current positions and, yet, both have found there to be no more upward mobility. If they are content, they can stay in these jobs for the rest of time while rotting away on the inside. Or, if the feeling of just waiting for one's death is not appealing, they can always try to find a new job. However, they will never be able to get their present salary, position, or respectability. In essence, at a certain point, there is no more stone to grind with one's nose. Instead, there is a status quo that will remain until action is taken.

For David and Linda, the best option is to just drop off of the grid and travel the country. By his own admission, this is a path that David once mocked people for in his youth, but it is one he is not greatly envious of being able to accomplish. Likely a by-product of life always being greener on other side, the idea is nonetheless rather admirable. Similar to the counter work culture experience in the 20th century via films such as Fight Club, American Beauty, and Office Space, Lost in America speaks about the hollow existences experienced by those in the workforce. Get up, get dressed, go to work, come home, pass out, and then do it all over again. This robotic lifestyle has turned us all into corporate drones, merely waiting for our next promotion or opportunity to prove ourselves at work when, in reality, investing in ourselves and in our lives is far more worth our while. Rather than kissing ass at work, why not let loose and live a little for our own mental health? Yet, Brooks' film is smart. Never idealizing the lifestyle of just living on the road, Lost in America shows the perils and sore points that could arise. Loose spending and celebrating one's newly found liberation a little too much could lead to great stress and anguish in the blink of an eye. In essence, Lost in America argues for a balance. Taking time away from work to live one's life is a vital part of living that everybody should attempt. Becoming a mindless zombie who only knows how to go to work is not what the American dream is truly about, no matter what we have been taught growing up. Rather, the American dream is about the freedom to live one's life as they choose. We can never entirely drop off of the grid, as a source of income is a necessary evil in the world. Yet, that necessary evil is no reason to remain stationary and never utilize the freedom of movement. As a result, the American population have misused the American dream through misinterpretation. Believing it to be solely about how anybody can make themselves into something through hard work - implying dedication work - the American dream is truly about how anybody can live their life as they wish and by their own design. Striking a balance between what we need to do - work - and what we want to do - in the case of the film, travel and move to new locations - is where the key to truly utilizing the American dream lies. Becoming a slave to work or an unemployed drifter are perfect examples of taking a lifestyle to the extreme with that way of life feeling too restrictive and dull after a while. Blending the two together allows one to truly find a measure of happiness in a world so dictated by success in the workplace. If, as a society, we came together to realize that work-life balance - and thus, truly realizing the American dream of building a family (life) and a career (work) no matter who you are… Expand

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