Life seemed almost
perfect
for Martin
Tillman (Coburn) until
a shattering
act of random hostility took the
life of his
daughter Penny (Madsen). Now Martin realizes that there is
only one way he can
move on from
this tragedy:
to solve the
mystery of her
killing by
tracking the
trail of the
gun that killed
her.
CRITIQUE
American Gun
is James Coburn's last appearance in a feature film. Despite his
illness with arthritis for many years, the actor chose to go back
to work. In this film by Alan Jacobs, Coburn plays his character
with some real emotion and purpose. His performance drives the
film for most of the time, though the director makes a few scenes
feel realistic and important when they should be. At times the
plot seems to run along in strides without much purpose, mostly
when Coburn travels through several states as he tracks the owner
of the gun. However, those scenes are composed to a beautiful
score by Anthony Marinelli that evokes a little drama.
The character of
Martin is at times conflicted and never able to get over the death
of his daughter, which is never quite explained throughout the
course of the film, only at the very end does Alan Jacobs reveal
the reason for this, and when the time came I was a bit shocked to
learn the truth. That truth might also explain Martin's apparent
seclusion he sometimes seeks inside his room writing letters to
his posthumous daughter, the only way he's able to get his
thoughts out. So, yes, American Gun is really a
character-driven drama, and it works on most levels.
The aspect that
doesn't quite work is the relationship with his daughter's
daughter, a teenager who ran away. Later in the film he tracks her
down to an apartment in a different city and invites her back to
live with him and his wife. Another area that's a bit loose
concerns the occurrence of things, sometimes Martin goes from
place to place, and very often Jacobs will cut to a flashback of
Martin as a young man serving during World War II. These
flashbacks give depth and insight into the character, but I didn't
find them having much impact on the current situation, except for
the end when the truth is revealed about Martin's semi-homophobia
against guns, sort of. The film's final revelation is also a bit
short-handed, leaving me with an empty feeling towards what really
happened and how quickly Martin adjusted in his acceptance of the
truth.
Well, see the film
for yourself and judge. American Gun is not a bad film. In
fact, there are some intriguing scenes and Coburn's performance is
solid, but the film is a little too uneven. It's not an easy
recommend, but worth it on a few counts.
THE VIDEO
Miramax presents American
Gun in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Colors are mostly
bright and well-saturated. Detail looks fine, and sharpness is
pretty decent. The print image looks fairly good without any
major concerns. Black levels and dark tones are fine also. Grain
appears in limited amounts, and only a few specks turn up. I
also didn't notice any compression artifacts. Overall, pretty
decent quality.
THE AUDIO
Miramax presents American
Gun in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. The only
beneficial aspect of this soundtrack is the really nice score by
Anthony Marinelli.
Its position among the channels is fine and the quality is very
nice. In terms of dialogue, the front channels do a pretty good
job. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, and surrounds are
used in limited intervals; they're almost never really an issue.
But for this type of film the DD presentation is just fine.
THE EXTRAS
Despite the lack of an audio
commentary, the studio has included the ultimate documentary (to
my knowledge) on the late actor called James Coburn: Bang the
Gong (43:15), a program that aired on the A&E network. The
docu traces the man's life from the Army to his early acting
experiences in New York. When he moved back to LA he married and
starred in his first Western feature. The rest of the docu
recounts many of his films and gives interesting stories about
quite a few of them. Featured are interviews with his wife
Beverly, his daughter Lisa, son James Jr., author Garner
Simmons, friend Robert Vaughn, and many others. There are some
vintage interview clips with Coburn and at least one or two
recent clips. Overall, it's quite a fantastic documentary on the
actor and his life, and an extra very appreciated. There is no
trailer for the film, however.
You can
select to view the film with optional English and Spanish subtitles. The
89-minute feature is organized into
sixteen chapters. A paper insert lists scene
selections and an ad for the upcoming The Magdalene Sisters
DVD.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I'll recommend this DVD
on the basis of the film and the A&E documentary on James Coburn. The
film features some decent drama, and despite an uneven feel about the
plot, Mr. Coburn's performance is solid. The DVD's video/audio is just
fine, and the sole extra is very good. As I said, recommended.
