American Dreamer

R

Released Sep 20, 2019

1 hr. 32 min.

Mystery & Thriller

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List

53%

15 Reviews

Tomatometer

76%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

A down-on-his-luck driver who makes extra cash by chauffeuring a low-level drug dealer around town finds himself in a serious financial bind and decides to kidnap the dealer's child.

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Ted B

3.5 stars: Yes. This movie was claustrophobic. But, that is what made this picture work. We are stuck inside a 'Uber type' car with a very downtrodden character whose life is in a downward spiral. This cramped environment gives us the ability to understand what drives (pun intended) this character to make such a desperate idiotic decision. I wasn't real sure what the moral of the story was. But on the other hand, that's what made it more true to life. Jim Gaffigan's performance moves him into that category of sparsely populated funny comedians who can deliver superlative dramatic performances.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/04/23

Full Review

les n

Maybe I'm just a Jim Gaffigan fan, but I really liked this movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Intense movie that gave me anxiety the entire viewing. Jim Gaffigan in a non comedy role did well but kept expecting a Hot Pocket joke. No seriously though very well paced and tense.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/31/20

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Audience Member

Wow, this was done great. Tension throughout. Good movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The movie was well made and the soundtrack was pretty dope , the cast was cool and all but the story was just a little to cringy for my taste! I would have love to have seen the kidnapper die at the end or if the child didn't died in the nature he did ! The ending was sucked ! Jim gaffigan's character was pretty evil! But the mom was dirty as well ! I would have rated the movie like a 4 stars but the content was like find of messed up

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I love Jim Gaffigan's comedy and am a huge fan. When I first saw the preview for this, I felt hesitant about seeing it. I finally had a chance to watch this and it was a nice surprise, very good. His role reminds me some of when Robin Williams played a creepy photo tech in One Hour Photo.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Derrick Borte

Director

Jim Gaffigan

Cam

Robbie Jones

Mazz

Tammy Blanchard

Becca

Alejandro Hernández

Gumby

Eric D. Hill Jr.

Dontrell

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American Dreamer: Trailer 1

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Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

Directed with claustrophobic, docudrama-style intensity by Derrick Borte and featuring a career-best dramatic performance by [Jim] Gaffigan, "American Dreamer" is a dark and intense and sometimes brutally violent slice of rotted life.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 20, 2019

Full Review

Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

Gaffigan brings plenty of gravitas to "American Dreamer," a low-key neo-noir that starts out as a character sketch about a broken man, and then takes an even darker turn.

Sep 19, 2019

Full Review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

Since none of the characters are terribly bright or likable, the experience of watching the film is like being trapped inside a locked car stuck in neutral.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 19, 2019

Full Review

Alison Foreman

Mashable

It's a far cry from Gaffigan's typical optimism, and not anywhere near as funny. But as is often the case in comedy, American Dreamer works because it feels true, and bleakly, unapologetically possible.

Dec 6, 2019

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Jackie K. Cooper

jackiekcooper.com

An average thriller made better by a dramatic turn by the always funny Jim Gaffigan.

Rated: 5/10

Oct 15, 2019

Full Review

Wade Major

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

It takes some turns that feel very contributed, but you're watching this basically to watch Jim Gaffigan work and do something we haven't seen him do before. And in that regard, it's very rewarding.

Oct 4, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

A down-on-his-luck driver who makes extra cash by chauffeuring a low-level drug dealer around town finds himself in a serious financial bind and decides to kidnap the dealer's child.

Director: Derrick Borte
Executive Producer: Jonathan Gray, Christopher Rush Harrington, Jijo Reed, Mary Vernieu
Screenwriter: Derrick Borte, Daniel Forte
Distributor: Saban Films
Production Co: Storyland Pictures
Rating: R (Some Strong Sexual Content|Disturbing Material|Pervasive Language|Drug Use|Violence)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 20, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 20, 2019

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