If good entertainment takes your emotions for a walk, then American Dreameris the Olympic steeplechase — or the 400 meter hurdles, if the hurdles were on fire.
Overwrought with queasy panic, Derrick Borte's crime thriller arrived in theaters for a limited release last week to muted fanfare. The filmchronicles the dangerous unraveling of one man against the backdrop of an unforgiving city, similar to the Safdie brothers' underappreciated Good Time. It's an uncomfortable watch, but worth every minute.
Jim Gaffigan (aka comedy's favorite father of five) stars as Cam, a family man-turned-kidnapper. Laid off from his job as a tech specialist, Cam is introduced as an unlucky victim of a churning economy, forced to take on the thankless job of rideshare driving to pay alimony and child support to his ex-wife.
He misses his son, almost as much as his dignity.
It's an uncomfortable watch, but worth every minute.
Through the driving, Cam meets Mazz, a low-level drug dealer played by Robbie Jones (One Tree Hill.) Cam agrees to drive Mazz around town, no questions asked, in return for a few hundred dollars per day. But after some success with the arrangement, Cam begins to perceive Mazz as yet another entitled passenger, devoid of kindness and humanity.
One night, after dropping Mazz off at another location, Cam sneaks into Mazz's home and kidnaps his two-year-old son. To the audience, it's a snap decision made less than 30 minutes into the film. To Cam, it's the realization of a long-held revenge fantasy, with quick-fix financial perks.
Using a burner cell, Cam, unidentified, tells Mazz he'll return his son for $20,000. What follows is best likened to a disturbing Home Alone sequence, as the bumbling Cam piles consequence atop consequence in his efforts to get away with this ill-conceived plot.
A stand-in for consumer culture, a personified criticism of the gig economy, and an unstoppable force of well-intended destruction, Cam is a uniquely flummoxing villain. Gaffigan — who sharpened his acting chops in 2017's Chappaquiddick — delivers a haunting performance, as slippery as it is captivating.
Jones is similarly spectacular, especially in scenes opposite Isabel Arraiza, who plays Mazz's wife Marina.
SEE ALSO: I'll never forgive the Oscars for snubbing 'Good Time'Each character in this neo-noir nightmare is as sympathetic as they are loathsome. It's a far cry from Gaffigan's typical optimism, and not anywhere near as funny. But as is often the case in comedy, American Dreamer works because it feels true, and bleakly, unapologetically possible.
American Dreameris available for rent or purchase on iTunes and Amazon Prime Video.
I'm a college professor. My advice to young people who feel hooked on tech
Louis C.K.'s 'I Love You, Daddy' feels like a dare
'You're the Worst' returns and is worth watching
Two new tributes to Chester Bennington show how much he meant to the world
10 Tech Predictions for 2017
Hurricane Irma is making oceans vanish before the flooding
Star Trek's LeVar Burton isn't done with podcasting
Cruise ship company is rescuing its employees from Irma—on a cruise ship
Q&A with tendercare founder and CEO Shauna Sweeney
Fyre Festival genius reportedly scammed himself by selling Kanye West, Hamliton tickets
Operation Mensch
MashTalk: What everyone secretly fears about the iPhone 8
Uber wants all its cars in London to be electric by 2025 ... and you're going to pay for it
Uber rival lands in London, halts operations after 3 days
Q&A with tendercare founder and CEO Shauna Sweeney
Equifax hit with $70 billion class
Snapchat's newest media partners: college newspapers
After Hurricane Irma, U.S. Virgin Islands residents feel forgotten
'The Last of Us' Season 2, episode 4: Why Ellie sings 'Take on Me'
Apple's historic iOS 11 leak may have been an inside job, report says
Study trains Port Jackson sharks to respond to jazz musicApple's massive outage has just been fixedJapanese Buddhist temple hosts funeral for 100 Sony Aibo robot dogsNomadic Samburu people that once feared elephants now rescue themBest smart TV deal: Get the Insignia HD Fire TV for $90 at AmazonCourt date set for NetEase and Blizzard’s $43.5 million compensation case · TechNodeBest gaming deal: The PlayStation Spring Sale has discounted thousands of games at up to 70% off.Will the White House sinkhole get bigger?'Mary and George' review: The horniest period drama of 2024 is also one of its bestTikTok allows pure text posts on its app · TechNodeWombat butt biting sex habits could be helpful for its survivalWombat butt biting sex habits could be helpful for its survivalWombat butt biting sex habits could be helpful for its survivalNetEase Youdao unveils voice tutoring large language model · TechNodeApple's massive outage has just been fixedHow to reset your Apple ID passwordiPhone 16: This rumored design change could mean more screen real estateAlibaba Cloud adds Meta’s AI model Llama2 for use by local developers · TechNodeToyota’s China joint venture is letting go of 1,000Apple's massive outage has just been fixed Best earbuds deal: Google Pixel Buds Pro are 30% off now at Amazon How to watch NC State vs. Duke football without cable: kickoff time, streaming deals, and more Nation's first guaranteed income program for Indigenous parents launches in Washington Malthusian Flotsam and Unspeakable Jetsam, and Other News by Dan Piepenbring Tesla goes off Ever Affectionately Yours: Letters—and Doodles—from Iris Murdoch TikTok's eel pit guy has found fame on the app QAnon influencers are now reportedly defrauding their followers via cryptocurrency scams Read and Worn: Jeremy May’s Book Jewelry Let’s Proceed Under the Assumption That We All Look Great Waiting in the Sky: 8 Paintings by Barbara Takenaga This simple air fryer French fry recipe will give you the perfect homemade side dish 9 of the best moments in Black Twitter history NYT's The Mini crossword answers for October 12 A Remembrance of Phife Dawg from His Cousin, Zinzi Clemmons In Praise of the Ugly Cry Trumpet just became the first Bloodhound to ever win the Westminster Dog Show This Is Your Last Chance to Be Hugged By a Cartoon Character Who Hears the Hum, and Why? How Difficult: A Comics Adaptation of Lydia Davis’s Story
2.2149s , 10131.7265625 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Bijli Ka Pyaar (2025) Hindi Short Film】,Wisdom Convergence Information Network