This mystery sets out as a routine blackmail, but turns into a thriller involving the government and those that want to get rich quick. And then there’s a suicide at Niagara Falls that all leads to The American Side. Much like the gumshoe J.J. Gittes in Chinatown with the same kind of pace and impression, The American Side becomes compelling and intriguing.
Local private eye Charlie Paczynski (Greg Stuhr) has been scamming the well healed businessmen with the help of his shill Kat (Kelsey Siepser), a stripper. One night while taking pictures of Kat in a car with a mark he hears a gun shot and sees the car speeding away. Not able to find the car Charlie’s at a loss as to what had happened. Hoping that he’ll find a clue at the club where Kat works, he runs into a woman coming out of an ally asking him for help. Before he can respond she disappears into the night.
The Next day he gets a visit from a woman calling herself Kikki Meeker and asks Charlie if he’ll do a job for her for a large sum of money. He’s to find Tom Soberin (Harris Yulin) who follows to Niagra Falls. At the Falls Soberin gives him the slip showing up later in a body bag and listed as a suicide. Now very puzzled, he tries to pull himself together and get to the bottom of both cases.
The film spools out from there involving a number of suspects and a plot to recover the Nikola Tesla diagrams for the use of his experimental energy as weapons and teleporting. Much like Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillers, Director Jenna Ricker takes her audience on one wild goose chase after another, twisting her tale into an intriguing story of deception and misconception. She’s very cunning in her suspenseful script never giving up too much to her audience and making them wait till the last tantalizing scene.
The performance by lead actor Greg Stuhr is convincing as a guy who’s lead into a sinister plot with the persons pulling the strings grasping for straws. His character thinks he’s finally hit the big time and doesn’t realize he’s the pawn. While he’s not the caliber of a Jack Nicholson who portrayed J.J. Gittes in Chinatown, Stuhr keeps his character’s spirit in line with the famous actor.
However, beyond the performance by Stuhr there’s very little in the support acting department to provide any real praise. Not a lot of passion with their delivery or development in their character over the course of the film, the support stars seem like they are walking through a haze rather than pushing the envelope.
The American Side has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains violence, sexuality and language. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that are inappropriate for adolescents.
FINAL ANALYSIS: The gumshoe has been missing from the big screen for some time so The American Side may be a good filler for those who crave suspense. (C+)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Greg Stuhr, Matthew Broderick, Camilla Belle, Janeane Garofalo, Robert Vaughn, Harris Yulin, Joe Grifasi and Robert Forster
Directed and Written by: Jenna Ricker
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 1 hr. 30 min.
Release Date: April 29, 2016
Opening: at the IFC Center, NYC
The American Side opens at: IFC Center an Art House Movie Theater in Greenwich Village, New York City, located at 323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd St.
(323 Ave of the Americas, New York, NY 10014)
Phone: (212) 924-7771
SHOWTIMES: 10:45am, 3:03pm, 5:25pm, 7:45pm, and 10:00p
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
