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The American Side

Play trailer 2:16 Poster for The American Side 2016 1h 30m Mystery & Thriller Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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79% Tomatometer 19 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A low-rent detective joins the quest for a long-lost design by enigmatic genius, Nikola Tesla.
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The American Side

Critics Reviews

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Miriam Di Nunzio Chicago Sun-Times 06/16/2016
3/4
[A] fascinating whodunit/whatisit thriller that's sure to leave some questions unanswered. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Go to Full Review
Steve Rubenstein San Francisco Chronicle 06/06/2016
3/4
The American Side is a swell trip on one of those cheesy carnival rides, and you'll know it's time to get off the roller coaster when the credits roll. Go to Full Review
Frank Scheck The Hollywood Reporter 04/29/2016
True to form, the screenplay... is barely coherent in its explication of the convoluted plotline. But it does provide a fair share of hard-boiled, frequently amusing dialogue and a plethora of colorful characters. Go to Full Review
Linda and Al Lerner Movies and Shakers 10/21/2019
This film deserves to come out of the dark. Go to Full Review
Daniel Barnes Dare Daniel 03/31/2019
2/5
I can't even describe how much I want to like a scruffy, amiable, atmospheric, widescreen neo-noir lovingly shot in and around Buffalo, but The American Side is a stiff from start to finish. Go to Full Review
Don Shanahan Every Movie Has a Lesson 02/14/2019
4/5
Satisfying and a constantly engaging throwback detective story that surpasses its glitzy and more expensive Hollywood peers Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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ronald h 12/17/2021 In spite of a lot of clever film noir references, plus one cheesy reference to "North by Northwest," the plot of "The American Side" is too convoluted and poorly explicated to do much more than frustrate the viewer. There are a ton of characters to keep track of, and most of them are badly introduced and undeveloped, so we can't remember who they are. Thirty minutes into it, I was getting confused. An hour into it, I was altogether lost. It's too bad, because the cinemtography of Buffalo and Niagara Falls is really well done. There are several great looking scenes. The story involves secret documents of Nikola Tesla being sought by mysterious Serbs, and it includes a hapless private eye (Greg Stuhr), the FBI, and other strange, shadowy characters. The best thing about the film is small parts by Robert Forster, Robert Vaughn, Matthew Broderick, and other notables, but overall, it's an incomprehensible mess. It's not even clear what the time period is. Too bad. There's a good story in here somewhere, but damned if I could find it. The best I can hope for is that uninformed viewers will learn something about the amazing Tesla. As one line in the movie points out, he "invented the 20th century." See more 04/06/2021 Tough to follow with no redeeming reward 2.3 See more 06/21/2020 Intriguing overall story that keeps you engaged, but, tricky to follow at times with the different parties chasing the Tesla design. Added value with this picture being filmed around Niagara Falls on the American Side. See more 09/28/2017 Only the scenery is beautiful. The story sucks. Boring as hell. See more 09/08/2017 The plot is complex, unbelievable, and extremely drawn out. The main character is unattractive and the filming often dark. See more 09/03/2017 2017-09-03 first half good, second half disjointed See more Read all reviews
The American Side

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Movie Info

Synopsis A low-rent detective joins the quest for a long-lost design by enigmatic genius, Nikola Tesla.
Director
Jenna Ricker
Producer
Jonathan Shoemaker
Screenwriter
Jenna Ricker, Greg Stuhr
Production Co
Centre Street Productions, One Horse Shy Productions
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
May 3, 2016
Runtime
1h 30m
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