American Perfect (1997)

American Perfect: Directed by Paul Chart. With Amanda Plummer, Robert Forster, David Thewlis, Fairuza Balk. Sandra meets a shrink on the way to picking up her sister at a desert town to continue to their mom. He decides by flipping a coin. The coin flipping gets psycho.

“Iu0026#39;d heard so many different opinions about this movie. At first it sounded like just another psycho-killer road movie (although with a cast of some of the greatest actors around) but then it got chosen for the Cannes film festival and won a bunch of other u0026#39;seriousu0026#39; awards. Anyway, one night my mom and dad saw it at a festival and when they got home they were arguing like mad – my dad (who hates EVERYTHING) called it a masterpiece – my mom said it freaked her out and shouldnu0026#39;t have been made! After that I didnu0026#39;t know what to expect but I knew I had to see it. Well, tonight I did and oh my God, it turned me upside-down. I wouldnu0026#39;t go so far as to call u0026#39;American Perfektu0026#39; a masterpiece, but itu0026#39;s smart, funny, beautifully acted and directed, and has moments of such straight-faced hilariously chilling brilliance that it made me remember why I love movies. I wonu0026#39;t try and explain the plot in detail but Amanda Plummer plays a woman lost in the desert after her car is driven off the road by a mysterious car. She gets picked up by a criminal psychiatrist and a strange romance develops between them based on making all their decisions on the flip of a coin. Plummer is better than Iu0026#39;ve seen her since u0026#39;The Fisher Kingu0026#39; (and even more beautiful) and Robert Forster is AWESOME! Better even than u0026#39;Jackie Brownu0026#39;. David Thewlis is alternately funny, creepy and downright sad. And watch out for Chris Sarandon, too, as a gentle Deputy to Paul Sorvinou0026#39;s gung-ho Sheriff – a great performance that reminds us why he got nominated for an Oscar once (Dog Day Afternoon). The gorgeous Fairuza Balk is also excellent in a really intense performance much more mature than the usual flashier stuff she gets asked to do. Yeah, u0026#39;American Perfektu0026#39; starts off slowly but only because itu0026#39;s lulling you into a false state of security while itu0026#39;s crawling under your skin. And writer/director Paul Chart pulls it off without resorting to being u0026#39;aboveu0026#39; his audience ie: despite all the clever different layers to the film, you never feel like itu0026#39;s trying to prove how smart it is – also, everyone really looks like theyu0026#39;re having fun. All in all, u0026#39;American Perfektu0026#39; isnu0026#39;t so much a psycho u0026#39;art filmu0026#39; as a really neat and original movie thatu0026#39;s been u0026#39;artfully madeu0026#39;. Give it chance and donu0026#39;t be afraid to laugh at how nightmarish it becomes. A warning to the faint-hearted, however – although Chart keeps the sex and violence fairly low-key, it has a habit of coming out of nowhere and is presented in such a matter-of fact way that it WILL stay with you (just ask my mom). Thereu0026#39;s another great score from Simon boswell, too (u0026#39;Shallow Graveu0026#39;, u0026#39;Trainspottingu0026#39;).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNow, where did I put that shovel ….?”