By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
There are multiple reasons why this film didn’t get released until two years after its festival debut and why it bombed so badly at the box office. “Americana” is not just a poor man’s version of a Coen brother’s movie; it’s more of a homeless version with no prospect of a future. Between the man-hating agenda that has become increasingly popular in today’s cinema and Sydney Sweeney, this dark comedy/crime drama was doomed from the beginning.
In a small South Dakota town, where everyone is desperate for money to leave their retched lives behind, the atmosphere is ripe for a caper. When a ne’er-do-well named Dillon MacIntosh (Eric Dane) kills a wealthy socialite and robs a valuable, sacred Lakota Ghost shirt, the dominoes begin to fall with murderous intentions. Dillon’s girlfriend Mandy Starr (Halsey), her disillusioned son Cal (Gavin Maddox Bergman), a local waitress/wannabe singer with a speech impediment named Penny Jo (Sydney Sweeney), a lonely simpleton looking for love named Lefty Ledbetter (Paul Walter Hauser), the local crime boss Roy Lee Dean (Simon Rex), a group of Native American freedom fighters led by Ghost Eye (Zahn McClarnon), and a womanizing commune all violently intersect to claim the artifact for themselves.
This is the directorial debut of writer Tony Tost, and if the box office is any indication, it may be his last. He uses a challenging chapter style, non-linear format when conveying this story, which proves to be beyond his capabilities as a filmmaker. The transitions are choppy and lack cohesion, making it difficult for viewers to follow the staccato timeline of events, especially early in the film. Tost makes the conscious decision to depict most of the male characters as either dumb, inherently evil towards women, or both, as an obvious ploy to cater to the ever-popular female empowerment byproduct of the #MeToo movement. While it is vitally important to highlight strong female characters in film, it can be overdone to browbeating proportions that distract audiences from the actual storyline, which is what happens here.
Tost’s writing, particularly for the dialogue, is absolutely abysmal, trying so hard to mimic the Coen brother’s dark humor like in “Fargo.” Instead, the dialogue is clunky and unrealistic, making the comedy fall as flat as a road trip through Nebraska. Sure, the little boy character claiming to be the reincarnation of Sitting Bull is somewhat amusing the first time, but Tost insists on going to that well repeatedly. Not even the cinematography and editing are done well with multiple shots out of focus. To make matters worse, Tost employs slow pacing that drags the movie out, which would have been worth it if the climax was as explosive as it was building up to be. However, it fizzles out just like the waning interest of viewers.
Sydney Sweeney is undoubtedly one of the worst actresses in Hollywood, and she continues to show why with this dreadful performance. Tost’s belief that she could believably portray a woman with a stammering issue is almost comical. Sweeney struggles delivering the simplest of lines authentically, so her attempts to deliver lines with a stutter are nauseating and draining to watch. How she continues to get starring roles is beyond belief. The only intriguing element of her presence in this film is whether the jeans she was wearing were American Eagle.
While Sweeney’s ineptitude casts a rather large shadow over the ensemble, there are a couple of performances that stand out positively despite the poor writing. Halsey is a musician by trade, but she shows some serious acting chops in her first real starring role. She is one of the only members of the cast who is able to convey any kind of emotional impact. Paul Walter Hauser continues to have a banner year, having previously appeared in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” “The Naked Gun,” and TV’s “Cobra Kai.” He provides some of the only laughable moments in the film with his deadpan love bombing.
With an opening box office weekend of only about $500k, “Americana” doesn’t even crack the top ten, making it an unmitigated disaster. One thing is for sure; South Dakota needs a new PR director. Between this movie and last week’s “East of Wall,” South Dakota is getting a bad rap that is likely going to diminish funding in their Office of Tourism.
This movie earns:
