A western comedy that’s better with its ideas than its comedy and sidekicks.
I’m sure not many people would see “Americana,” because it’s artisan western being released in the middle of August. I try to tell you readers there are good movies on a smaller scale even in slow months, but I also acknowledge that not every one works. “Americana” is a western comedy that wants to go for that Tarantino meets Coen brothers approach, but it feels a little too superficial to exceed our expectations in the genre.
The story is set in South Dakota. It’s funny because I just reviewed a movie set in that state called “East of Wall.”
The introduction has young Calvin (Gavin Maddox Bergman) thinking he’s the reincarnation of Sitting Bull, and refuses to leave with his runaway mother Mandy (Halsey with a Joan Jett hair style) when she attacks her abusive husband Dillion (Eric Dane). This story takes place in the 2020s, but this kid watches so many old cowboy and Native American movies that he doesn’t know about filters. He’s annoyed that not all the locals-some of them of Native American descent-have kept their traditional ways. And I’m annoyed by his behaviors.
Then, we come across Paul Walter Hauser as a ranch hand named Lefty, who is right-handed. He starts seeing a diner waitress named Penny Jo (Sweeney), who seems like an old fashioned cutie pie with red hair, a red bandana, and a stuttering problem, but is also “a hidden gem” of a singer.
We also get Simon Rex as the sleazy antiques dealer Roy Lee Dean, who covets a ghost shirt on the black market owned by the wealthy Pendleton Duvall (Toby Huss, currently seen in “Weapons” and “King of the Hill”), and wanted Dillion to bring it to him. But then it goes missing, and almost everyone wants in on the money. Now that’s an interesting concept and it could work as a bizarre comedy with Tarantino and Coen overtones-kudos to first time filmmaker Tony Tost (who just wrote one of the new “Poker Face” episodes).
Another element of “Americana” that likes to stick to the classics is how Dillion also drives an orange car that almost looks like the General Lee, but without the confederate flag or number 01 on it. So, in a way, I think this movie wants to go for that nostalgic approach with less offensive things and more style.
Some of the performances work, while some are over the top. I liked Hauser as the goofball Lefty, who tells people he’s right-handed and has the awkward appeal. He’s an actor, who sometimes likes to go for his own Zach Galifiankais approach (as wisely demonstrated in “The Luckiest Man in America”). And I also appreciate how Rex has been broaden his horizons as a comedy actor (think back to “Red Rocket”). But I wasn’t really a fan of Sweeney’s character as a much as I should have. She has the old fashioned styles that work, but the stuttering starts to wear out its welcome. And I’m still not a fan of the kid acting like he’s the vessel of Sitting Bull.
I came across one of Richard Roeper’s tweets saying that actors in smaller roles deserve a lot more credit than what’s given to them. In “Americana,” we also get Christopher Kriesa as Mandy’s puritanical father, whom she comes crawling back to in hopes of sanctuary. He’s the kind of religious freak, who enslaves her mother and sister, makes them wear clothes like they’re trying to audition for a “Little House on the Prairie” reboot or something, and barely shows any sign of emotions. Unless someone were to come along and come up with a joke. Now that is when he admits it’s funny.
Half of “Americana” is interesting and delightfully wacky, while the other half is annoying and cynical. I like where it’s going, but it’s not really worth rushing to the theaters to see.
