American Animal

before watching i read the summary, then reviews by other watchers. then watched the film. so i was prepared for this odd film. not a particular good art film but definitely a tour into the mind of the director.

first i believe jimmy is already dead at the beginning of this movie! why? because i cannot accept the 'acceptance' of his behavior by his roommate or the two girls. even if someone is dying there are limits to what others will tolerate. and jimmy exceeds this limit in every frame. as 'not blonde angela' kept saying "you're acting like a crazy person".

yes jimmy was erratic and peculiar in life but what we (the viewers) are seeing is the friends memory of him and their personal interactions with him in the past. jimmy is gone and his reconciliation with death is their acceptance of his passing. everyone remembers others quite differently. james has his own issue with jimmy because he actually never told jimmy about his job. james merely imagines how jimmy would react to this because james broke "the agreement".

i could write more but i think most people (if they actually read these reviews) will take my assessment of this film as 'too off the wall'!