Americano

For many watching this movie, it will be deja vu. Two strangers meet while on vacation and a romance blooms but the vacation is too short for the romance to blossom into anything more than a brief romance. That often happens to men in military service who all too often must cut short the romance as their leaves expire. But that is not the case in this movie. In the end the man has a choice. He has a job waiting for him back in the US and he is faced with a choice - either chuck the job and stay with the woman that he is becoming infatuated with - or return to the US and leave the romance.

Every viewer will make their own choice. Leonaro Varelo plays a vivacious charming and sophisticated young woman apparently of some affluence who many men would give their right arm to have as a wife. To meet her on vacation is like having one's wildest dream come true. But it is unlikely that she will leave Spain if she marries the man and what is the man to do who cannot speak Spanish The movie is in a nice setting, reminiscent of Hemingway, in Pampona, Spain, just at the time of the big festival and the running of the bulls. We witness a bull fight which is presented in a way that gives most viewers unfamiliar with bull fights, the essence of bull fighting, if not any expertise in it. And there are some beautiful scenes of the country side.

Dennis Hopper plays an ugly role in this movie and the movie would have been a better movie without him. It was his role and excessive vulgarity and sex that kept me from giving it more than a 5. however, the background and the story make it interesting enough that I recommend it.

AMERICANO is the story of three Americans spending their last "free" days traveling in Europe. They only have a few more days before they return to the States to start their jobs, pay their debts, and enter the "real world". Reminiscent of THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES and THE PUFFY CHAIR, AMERICANO is about discovering the individual. Chris (McKinley) has a good job lined up but is reticent about returning after meeting the enigmatic Riccardo and beautiful Adella. Ryan and Michelle inspect the depths of their relationship. With a beautiful score, the film puts us into the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Chris and Ryan and filled with excitement and anticipation; Chris is inspired by Hemingway, ready to jot this adventure down in his journal. Fate appears in the form of the disappearance of his backpack, and now his plans start to fall apart. Upon meeting the local Adella and being urged to live his life, not the on expected by him, by Riccardo, Chris begins not only a pursuit of Adella but of his own soul and character. Ryan and Michelle, as they begin to near their return to the real world, begin to question their own lives together and what is real vs. simple contentment. The music is extraordinary. While it is a little tough to believe these actors are post-college age, the acting is top-notch for an indie film. The romantic scenes between Chris and Adella are exquisite.

This is undoubtedly the most pretentious and terrible film I have ever watched. It is ignorant, trying to be cultured but just comes across as embarrassingly cringe-worthy and wooden. The main female character who is supposed to be (I think) passionate and exciting is instead annoying and fake. Its obviously an American portrayal of what they see as culture on this side of the ocean(European countries) but it does nothing but expose the ignorance of the American film industry. The only slightly redeeming fact about this movie is Jackson's character's best friend who is pretty funny (but is not even on the screen very much). I have never written a review on anything before but feel like it would be selfish in this case not to warn the rest of the world not to waste 2 hours watching this film as I have done. (well actually it was so bad I switched it off before the end). Basically if you ever think about watching this film...DON'T.

This is an awful failure of a film, one of the worst I have seen in a while. The acting is absolutely abysmal, the story-line a bore, the characters self-absorbed zeros I would never want to meet anywhere, not even at a garage sale. Don't waste your time or money. Let's face it: films about ugly, ego-maniacal young Americans in Pamplona are a wasted effort. The story, told eons ago, doesn't bear repeating. Hemingway did it already, and he did it in a masterful way that the script writer for this film can never hope to match. This film might have been passably interesting had the story been about a critical juncture, occurring somewhere other than a stereotypically red and white bedecked Pamplona, in which the protagonist has to face real dilemmas far more profound than the tawdry "finding one's self" bromide tendered here. A DVD worth labeling and tossing as GARBAGE.

I wish there were more films like this. Truly a gem. If you like foreign films then you will love the style of this American tale. It captures real life in a remarkable, visceral way that few films ever achieve. The bullfight was a little too bloody for my taste but writer-director Kevin Noland did a good job of showing the good, bad and the ugly of the Spanish tradition. You won't have to go to a bullfight or run with the bulls once you see this film - but you will want to go to Spain. And the running of the pit bulls and little people has to be one of the most bizarre and funny scenes I can recall - classic! Great acting and directing. The visuals are so good they ought to be studied. Music was a strange mix of old and new but it works well.