Straight Shooter Film Review
Roundabout American
Director: Boris Wexler
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 90 Minutes
Budget: $200K
Expected Rating: R for nudity, sexuality, and profanity
Website: Click Here
Trailer: Click Here
Review Issue: #79 (10/12)
Reviewer: Jeremy Hanke
Final Score: 7.5 out of 10 – Worth Picking up at Redbox or Netflix.
Alex (Edouard Giard) is a French Restauranteur in the midst of a messy divorce. To escape his troubles, he comes to Chicago in search of a woman he met on the internet. When she turns out to still be with her criminal boyfriend, he decides to just try to experience Chicago for a few days.
However, when he meets a high priced call girl named Helen (Marielle de Rocca-Serra) he begins to look for reasons to stay in America awhile longer. And a new friend, Ron (Patrick Zielinski), helps him come up with just that reason: The Extra Topping, a pizza and prostitution combo platter.
The money from the venture seems to what can turn their lives around for the better, but when a dangerous party with a group of ruthless politicos goes south, Alex will have to decide what he’s willing to die for and who he wants to live for.
Alex finds his heartbreak continues in Chicago, until a new friend gives him an idea.
Watchability
The concept of the film was intriguing and Giard’s performance was pretty strong througout the film, as was de Rocca-Serra’s. As a film watcher, I thought the cinemetography and audio was quite good throughout and you could definitely see how well the budget was used throughout.
However, the acting had some problems in relation to the bit players and some of the ensemble cast. It was never enough to pull you out of the film, but it did leave the film on shakier ground.
I would’ve also liked to have seen a bit more development in the main characters’ relationships at the beginning, as montages are used too soon. Montages have to be earned. Use them too early and your trying to cover up gaps in scriptwriting.
Finally, I wanted there to be a more definitive ending. I don’t really need to give any spoilers to the ending but, suffice it to say, this type of romantic comedy is expected to have a fairly tight ending, whereas the Roundabout American ends almost like an “en trenche de vie” (“slice of life”) drama. This combined with the fact that the audience who’s looking for a romantic dramedy is probably not the one that’s going to be into a “pizza and ho’s” caper.
Call girl, Helen, helps Alex believe he might just be able to balance love with pizza.
Percent Watched*: 100%
*Some Indie films have enough problems that they can’t reasonably be watched through by a reviewer. As such, the percentage watched is part of the Straight shooter review.
Nothing was annoying enough to cause me to stop watching the film, which is high praise!
Closing Thoughts:
If you enjoy movies that’re a cross between Pretty Woman and American Pie, then you’ll probably dig the Roundabout American. For me, there were a lot of things the film did right, but I wanted to see a bit more early plot development, a better target on who their audience was, and a more definitive ending!
Final Score:
7.5 – Worth Picking up at Redbox or Netflix.
Jeremy T. Hanke
The director of two feature length films and half a dozen short films, Jeremy Hanke founded MicroFilmmaker Magazine to help all no-budget filmmakers make better films. The second edition of his well-received book on low-budget special effects techniques, GreenScreen Made Easy, (which he co-wrote with Michele Yamazaki) is being released by MWP in fall 2016. He's curently working on the sci-fi collaborative community, World of Depleted, and directed the debut action short in this series, Depleted: Day 419 .