American Perfekt (1997)
Criminal psychiatrist, Jake Nyman is taking a much needed vacation from responsibility. An experimental road trip during which ever decision will be made on a flip of a coin. Meanwhile, Sandra Thomas, disenchanted professional, is en route to pick up her flunked out sister, Alice, at a cheap motel before continuing on to visit their ailing mother. After being forced off the road by a mysterious assailant, however, Sandra is picked up by Jake, who's coin flipping amoral attitude quickly excites her own desire to break a few rules. Or worse. Jake and Sandra's romance is soon driven by chance acts of crime and kindness, all governed by the flip of a coin - at least until Sandra mysteriously disappears and Jake unwittingly picks up her suspicious sister, Alice ...
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I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
I would love to be able to find the left out footage from certain scenes filmed in my grandmothers house for this movie. The DVD does not have them and this would be really great if I can get them. Great movie love Amanda in all her films!Crazy film from beginning to end and having it so close to my home area was so interesting. Loved it and if you like weird you should watch it.Robert Forster was great and some of what he played in shocked me. He is a really nice man to give you a autographed picture for my mom who just loved him. I personally was to shy to go out and meet Amanda but loved watching all the filming.
I would like to have all the footage as shot from the start to the finish of American Purfkt. There were many times where the scenes that are not seen beyond the final cut come vividly to my memory .the gas station shot,of the coin that stood up on end after a toss,the true romance on the trip by Amanda and Robert, or when the 9mm fell apart in Chris's hand while the two other were hanging from the rafters,or when the barn burned down and the hurried prep to the new barn across the freeway,or how Ferusa kept loosing her sunglasses in the strangest places, Paul Sorvino's heated anger while viewing my redirected Shot gun clearing of the store . or the dog in the trash can scene or the beer bottle that flew from payroll into the pool parallel to all of us waiting in line,or dolly Dan and Bill Wages slippery seat incident .39 days in the Palmdale aria and 6 for the wrap. I miss them all.Included were the pooI side chats with Ivan .I last met him at the Russian knights film festival.. If you look real hard you may have a quick glimpse of me in the barn. I would have gave more to the vote If the edit was a little different and that the scenes shot that were not included over the top cop chase scenes with Paul Sorvino.
Coen Brothers-wannabe from writer-director Paul Chart relies far too much on ideas lifted from other (better) movies, yet does manage to create a creepy atmosphere that keeps one watching. Robert Forster cuts loose as never before playing a psychopathic psychiatrist (ha ha) who goes on a killing spree in the desert. The film is unusual, but in its attempt to keep one step ahead of the audience it becomes alienating and off-putting (with a role for Amanda Plummer that is downright humiliating). An admittedly bravura finale, many quirky bits of business--and Forster looking great in the nude--make this a curiosity item, nothing more. Veteran movie-director Irvin Kershner produced, and maybe should directed as well (could Paul Chart be a pseudonym?). *1/2 from ****
A remarkable film that captures what it is like to suffer from obsessive compulsivity and blossoming insanity. As a psychologist, I can verify that Forster plays his role to perfection, capturing the confusion of his character, a confusion that only the one time chance flip of a coin can correct.The cast is all star and very good performances are turned in by Balk, Plummer, Sorvino and Gleason, especially by Sorvino of the long suffering sheriff.As a road picture/slice of life film, this excels. See it and note the verbal and nonverbal characteristics of the Forster character. This film is a winner at all levels.