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Amazon Prime Video

Chris Smith's documentary on the eccentric but irrepressible and ambitious amateur filmmaker Mark Borchardt is both entertaining and thought-provoking, a sometimes inspirational, sometimes deeply moving, sometimes incredibly sad look at one man's indefatigable attempts to achieve his version of the American Dream. Set against the poverty of working-class Winsconsin, AMERICAN MOVIE must also be seen within the context of the mid-90s boom in American independent cinema-- an exciting time in which it seemed like anyone with access to a camera could make movies. But, interestingly, Borchardt's own taste in movies, and the types of movies he wants to make, harken back further to the ultra-low-budget gorefests of the 1970s/80s, such as TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. I also couldn't help but think of Steven Spielberg's early start in movies, which included-- as Borchardt does here-- making films which were largely crewed and acted in by a motley group of friends and neighbours, and "premiered" mostly the benefit of intrigued locals. Within the gore-horror sphere, we might make a similar comparison with Peter Jackson.

Why is it that Borchardt failed to break through whilst Hooper, Craven, Jackson and Spielberg became household names? Perhaps luck wasn't on his side; perhaps Borchardt's borderline alcoholism and mental health problems (which Smith does a good job at respectfully portraying) got in the way; perhaps it simply comes down to money (and, indeed, the frequent scenes in which Borchardt is reduced to begging/charming his elderly, somewhat senile uncle for money to complete his various projects are as amusing as they are morally challenging-- are we witnessing a man (unwittingly, perhaps) scamming a confused and vulnerable relative out of cash?). It certainly isn't for lack of trying-- AMERICAN MOVIE shows Borchardt as a veritable one-man-army, a tornado of passion (some would say obsession) and love for cinema-- a passion which seems to overtake all other aspects of his life, even his young children, who seem to enter and exit Borchardt's life on a more or less continual basis. It also isn't necessarily due to a lack of directorial talent-- the clips of his short film COVEN shown at the end of the doc show a man who knows how to make the nuts and bolts of a half-decent horror film. But COVEN also, perhaps, highlights one reason for a lack of breakthrough, with Borchardt insisting on making the sort of ultra-low-budget B-movie slasher horror movies that were not especially in vogue in the mid-90s.

Whatever the reason, Smith does an excellent job in this doc of portraying Borchardt in a fair manner-- never inviting the audience to laugh at his eccentricities, but making it clear that, in the nicest way possible, this is a rather odd dude. He make the argument clear that filmmaking-- but really any serious creative endeavour-- is something which only a person of almost inhuman levels of energy and chutzpah can achieve. It is also clear that filmmaking is very much a team activity; whilst Smith draws plenty of laughs in contrasting Borchardt's obsessive attention to detail with the amateurishness of his and family and stoner friends who act as his crew, there is also something incredibly charming about how dedicated his pals are to helping Borchardt achieve his dream. Obviously Mike Schank is top of the list here, and he is both wonderful and the source of so many great quotes (in essence, every single time he opens his mouth); but what I found most moving was the dedication of his mother who is out there in the cold and the dark with the rest of them. Smith portrays everyone with fairness and allows both their foibles and their charm to come through; in no sense does he give give Borchardt a pass, making it clear that his obsession with filmmaking often comes at the expense of his friends and family, as well as his own fragile health.

It is impossible to watch AMERICAN MOVIE in 2024 without the knowledge that Borchardt, whilst gaining some degree of fame as a result of the doc, did not become subsequently become the new Craven, Raimi or Romero; as far as I can tell, he has never managed to complete production on his planned epic "Northwestern" or indeed any other film. This is of course something that audiences seeing the doc on release would not have known; as a result, the hopefulness for Borchardt's future that those audiences might have felt upon viewing does not translate to a viewing in 2024. As a result what we are left with is something which is entertaining, but ultimately rather sad; it ends up being almost a repudiation of the American Dream, a Dream which states that if you want something badly enough and you work hard enough at it, you will obtain it. But for Mark Borchardt, the best he got was screening COVEN for his friends and family in his local cinema-- by no means a failure by any stretch (it is a damn sight more than I have ever achieved!), but hardly befitting the Borchardt's big dreams and huge passion.