American Son – DVD Review

The Film:

It’s pretty hard for audiences to care about the films, let alone all of the documentaries, on the Iraq war. I blame the constant blitzkrieg of news coverage from a couple of years ago, and very opportunistic producers. This combination hasn’t given audiences much to like, and perhaps the likenesses of this subject to everyday life caused fatigued. No offense to the soldiers who were sent overseas, but an Iraq war-based drama seems as exciting now days, as stubbing your big toe willingly.

Or maybe it is the fact that these films have a political stance?

American Son is an Iraq war-based film, but with three key distinctions: it’s original, it’s involving, and in it’s biggest departure from previous like-minded films, it’s apolitical. That’s a big reason why this 2008 Sundance Grand Prize Jury nominated film, succeeds. Most of the Iraq-based films, chose a side, and pointed fingers. That’s not a bad thing, but it got pretty redundant, and for some, lopsided in its discussion, so maybe American Son is the first film to be liked on a bipartisan level.

The film follows a marine (Nick Cannon) who comes home for Thanksgiving break to reunite with family and friends. In these 96 hours, relationships will be changed for better and for worse. With this simple backdrop, the writer Eric Schmid crafts a tale of a soldier and his choice to be in the service. Nick Cannon surprisingly handles the depth needed to ensure the audience’s connection with him. His character isn’t really received with warm open arms from everyone. His mom is too consumed with the 9-to-5 mentality, and although she’s loving, it’s hardly nurturing. She’s remarried and her new husband hasn’t fit into the proper role of a step-dad, and is too cold to Cannon’s character, Mike. His dad makes an appearance, but he too is distant. These relationships are all handled beautifully, and are key to why Mike, after high school, left for the marines. What’s there to do in his small California city, but waste away?

Obviously, his family life isn’t that great, and his friends haven’t matured much since he left. One could have easily been driven under, into this mundane life. The cinematography captures the dead feeling of Bakerfield, the residence of the characters. The film follows, and counts down his 96 hours, and Cannon is surprising here, as I mentioned before. His character has a bombshell of an announcement, and while it’s rather predictable early on, it never hampers the rest of the film, when he reveals it. The film isn’t about war, as it is about going to war, and what’s left behind.

American Son could very well be a document of America’s pessimistic attitude about the war in Iraq. Never, before going into a conflict, were we as a nation so negative about the outcome. This provides for some interesting subtext within the film. Amidst the character drama, American Son is a bit of a hidden gem. Mike is a well-adjust kid. His family is messed up, his friends are immature punks, and he never caves into that world, no matter how much he wants to breakdown. The film’s only real flaw is purely cosmetic, as I found the hip-hop soundtrack to be redundant and an obviously a cash-in for crossover appeal. The film is shot well, directed by a sure hand, and performed beautifully, so it didn’t need that. American Son isn’t so much about the war, as it is about the people going to the war, a statement and perhaps a thumbs-up to our soldiers.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Miramax delivers a strong disc presentation. The video is as good as the documentary-styled cinematography allows, and the audio is fine for a drama. The bass kicks in for the hip-hop soundtrack, but there’s no distortion.

Commentary: Director Neil Abramson, producers Danielle Renfrew and Michael Roiff, provide a decent track here. While there are a few bits of silence, these three are generally informative on the production of the film, offering up stories on the fast nature of the shoot, the casting, the changes to the script, and the ideas behind it all. Good listen.

On Leave in Bakersfield: Shot in fullframe, and running a little over eleven minutes, this is more of a collection of footage, shot as if we’re sneaking on the set. They capture a handful of scenes in the process of rehearsals, and then showing the finished scene. It’s somewhat interesting, but too bad they couldn’t offer up a few interviews with this.

Deleted Scenes: Two deleted scenes offered here are rather interesting, as one deals with some political statements from Cannon’s character. While the film stays apolitical, it a properly deleted scene, but a rare insight to what he was feeling. The other scene is the goodbye Mike says to his girlfriend, that was wisely unneeded. You can have an optional commentary on these as well.

Conclusion: American Son is a well crafted film, about people and their relationships in relation to the war. While the end features a bit of heavy-handedness, the overall film is enjoyable, and perhaps being the better film to be based on the last couple of years on America’s feelings on Iraq and the war.

The Film: Rating:

The DVD: Rating:

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