“I know my life isn’t too exciting. I know I’m not to exciting either. I don’t have a fancy job. I don’t drive a fancy car. I’m not a member of any kind of country club but I do have a nice house, a strong back and a heart full of love to give. The world is so full of bad things it’s frightening especially if you’re alone. No one should be alone. People should be happy. I think I can make you happy.”
So Tony Tost wants to make me happy. He’s released Americana now on home video and streaming. Here’s what I need from you to make that happen. As a writer give me a great story that keeps me on the edge of my seat. Show me and don’t tell me wherever it’s possible to do that. As a director I’ll need you to give me a cast that can carry the weight of it all and I want compelling characters. You see, Tony. I want very much to care about the people I’m watching. I want to become quickly invested in who they are and what they want or need. Being a first-time feature director I’m even willing to give you a little slack as long as you are trying to take care of those needs. Here’s what doesn’t make me happy, Tony. Don’t try to pull some iconic film styles and ideas from other, likely better and more experienced directors.
Deep in an isolated South Dakota town we find a group of characters that are about to find themselves in a convergence of really bad plot points that appear to begin with something called a ghost or spirit shirt. The thing is actually pretty much a shirt that plays an important role in Native American history. It also happens to be worth a lot of money and there are some bad guys who would really like to get their hands on said shirt. But before anything like that happens we’re going to be treated to a series of vignettes or chapters that will introduce a handful of characters and whatever they happen to be going through at that moment.
The shirt is currently owned by collector and all around rich guy Pendleton Duvall (Huss). Of course, he is showing it off to folks and that’s really so we can hear about how important and valuable it is. That’s a necessary part of the story because like many valuable things it looks like a raggedy old shirt. But Duvall is going to give us the whole story so that now we’re in on the McGuffin of the film. That also tells us that some other folks are going to try and relieve Duvall of the shirt. That starts with Dean (Rex) who hires local sleeseball Dillon to steal the thing. One of the running “jokes” is how little these various thugs are getting paid and each of them learning its true value. But before we even get to the crime we get a little end of the movie action first. Dillon has a domestic problem that isn’t going to end well at all. And as word gets around others get pulled into the shirt thing. One of them is serial proposer Lefty (Hauser) who gets roped in by waitress Penny Jo who wants to blow town to be a country and western star and played by Sydney Sweeney. Penny Jo sees Lefty as a lovesick puppy who can be manipulated into helping her pull it off. Finally there is Ghost Eye (McClarnon) who just wants the shirt back with the tribe where he believes it belongs.
We also have Mandy (Halsey) who is trapped in an abusive relationship with thug Dillon and has a son who believes he is the reincarnated soul of Sitting Bull himself. Of all of these exotic character types young Cal (Bergman) is the only character I cared at all about. He turns out to be the most compelling character in this whirlwind of types and soulless characters that populate this mess. The plot merely consists of several more vignettes from various character’s point of view that leads to violence that is just downright silly and advertises the desperate reach of a film that wants so much to be Quentin Tarantino meets The Coen Brothers that you can smell it like the sweat off of each characters backs. Everything from the locations to the dialog and the outlandishly crazy blood cries out to fit in that inner circle of creative greatness. Spoiler alert. It doesn’t come close.
Sydney Sweeney is a bit interesting as the stutter queen who thinks she can be a singing star. But maybe I’m distracted by her off-screen personality. I mean isn’t she trying to sell soap made from her used bath water? Do people actually buy it? Paul Walter Hauser is somewhat endearing as the ignorant local who just wants a companion. In any other movie he’s a pretty fun character that I can get to care something for. But the film’s antics are just too over the top. Someone needs to call Henry Winkler because I think we need Fonzie and his bike in this one. You see, I just bet there’s a swimming pool somewhere in here with a shark just asking to get jumped. You know what? That would be more compelling. I guess Tost was trying to give us a stylish film with some deep philosophy to ponder over as we reach the end. “Deep thinking is overrated”.
