American Murderer

I saw this last night...and it was absolutely one of the best filmic surprises of the year for me! 🙂 Not only is it probably one of the most casually-grim character study films you'll ever watch (in a way that even supersedes movies like "Joker" and "Pearl" because it's based on a true story, and it's all deeply, indelibly grounded in reality), but it's also an amazingly-confident experiment in sprawling non-linear storytelling, attempting a timeline that not even Stephen Gaghan would dare, lol. In a lot of ways, it's like what would happen if Harmony Korine made a modern-day American spin on "La Dolce Vita"...and I'm so, so psyched that Matthew Gentile was able to achieve ALL of this for his very first full-length film with nothing but hard work and lots of persistence! 🙂 Deeply, deeply-inspirational stuff...

I don't know where these positive reviews are coming from. This movie was a major snooze fest. It contained the most obnoxious actors in the history of Hollywood. For a character that was supposed to be charismatic, the lead actor came off more of a precocious jerk than anything. I honestly don't know how Ryan Phillippe keeps getting acting roles either. He is so wooden and one dimensional. Put both of them together and you have a recipe for pure crap. This movie was pure crap. There was nothing memorable, remarkable or good about this movie. The writers, producers and actors all should be on the FBI's Top 10 list for boring people to death.

A fast-paced, exciting thriller that manages to tap into the inner workings of a complicated, nuanced character and his journey to offer a ride that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. The directing is brilliant-- it's shot beautifully and newcomer Gentile gets incredible performances from his entire cast, particularly Tom Pelphrey, who's absolutely mind blowingly good. Not to mention stellar cinematography, a pitch-perfect score, and fantastic guest performances from an amazing cast overall including Jacki Weaver and Idina Menzel. I never would have known this was director Gentile's first film if I hadn't read it online-- truly an incredible first effort and a wonderful ride all around!

My view of this film is that it is, IMHO, one of the best studies into a man and his family that I've seen on film or even in documentaries.

Unfortunately for me, I've known people like this - I think we all have whether we know it or not.

This film has a strong cast (including Jacki Weaver, a favorite actress from Down Under who played their mother) who made it easy to follow the story based on actual accounts. And I forgot about that until the end. Jason's story is complex and maddening. The people left in his wake have stories too.

In this film, it makes Jason one character that I would like to sit down with and talk with but ....

I read all the negative reviews and saw the low IMDb score, but took a chance anyway given the story. I'm glad I did and you might be too.

There's a conman name of Jason has some debt, quite an irritating soul you won't forget, perpetually he lies, then denies, denies, denies, not sure he's ever done a thing, that he regrets. Some people do believe the things he says, then he sucks what he can get and makes them pay, but he's living borrowed time, he needs to make more than a dime, before he's turned into a figurative fillet.

It's not the most engaging tale of a con artist who digs himself a hole and keeps on digging. Based on true events, you'd like to think that if you were Jason Derek Brown you'd have a bit more of an impressive made for TV film than this to reflect your life - Catch Me If You Can it is not.