Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Tony Tost
Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey, Simon Rex, Eric Dane, Zahn McClarnon
American movies just aren't very American anymore. More often than not they're shot in Canada or Europe, and they're filled with actors from the UK, Ireland and Australia. But if you title your movie Americana, as writer/director Tony Tost has chosen to do with his feature debut, you're obligated to make a very American movie. That's just what Tost has done. His film is shot in New Mexico and takes advantage of that state's famously cinematic landscape, and there isn't a Brit or Aussie to be found on the call sheet.
With its mix of bloodshed and black comedy, Americana is the sort of ensemble movie we're obligated to label as "Coen-esque," but tonally it resembles a season of TV's Fargo condensed to 100 minutes rather than the Coens' own work. Its non-linear structure may invite comparisons to Tarantino, and it certainly has the feel of that director's many imitators from the '90s. But Tost's treatment of his characters marks him out as a writer/director with his own clear ideas of how initially stereotypical characters can be humanised. This is a broad depiction of America at its most cartoonish, but there's a level of sincerity that we rarely find in such fare.
The plot is centred on a variety of characters drawn into the bloody pursuit of a valuable Lakota ghost shirt. The artefact belongs to collector Pendleton Duvall (Toby Huss) but a ruthless antiques dealer, Simon Rex's Roy Lee Dean, is determined to get his hands on it. To do so he hires the services of low rent hood Dillon MacIntosh (Eric Dane). Overhearing a meeting between Roy and Dillon, waitress and wannabe country music superstar Penny (Sydney Sweeney) convinces bumbling cowboy Lefty Ledbetter (Paul Walter Hauser) to join her in a scheme to snatch the shirt for themselves and fund her dream trip to Nashville. Also involved is Dillon's abused girlfriend Mandy (Halsey) and her kid brother Cal (Gavin Maddox Bergman), who believes he's the reincarnation of Sitting Bull despite being very Caucasian. The latter's obsession with Native Americans leads him to tribal leader Ghost Eye (Zahn McClarnon), who wishes to return the ghost shirt to his people.
Every character in Americana is an archetype - the sensitive cowboy, the waitress with dreams of leaving her small town, the vengeful Native American, the abused girlfriend, the ruthless hoodlum etc - but Tost's script and some astute casting allows most of these people to come alive and break out of their stereotypical shells. At first it might seem the movie is mocking these figures, but Tost is careful to ensure we're laughing with them rather than at them. This is exemplified by Penny and Lefty, two people who have been laughed at by others for most of their lives (Penny for her stammer, Lefty for his emotional naivete) but who now ensure they crack the jokes before anyone else has an opportunity to do so.
Sweeney and Hauser play these people with a sincerity that makes them easy to root for, even if their scheme is hare-brained and culturally repulsive. It's hard to think of a more mismatched pair of actors on a superficial level (Sweeney embodies how Americans like to be seen while Hauser looks like an actual American), but Sweeney and Hauser's chemistry is off the charts. They're so good together that you might find yourself wishing the movie was centred exclusively on their burgeoning romance. Pop star Halsey is a revelation in what slowly becomes the film's most important role, her Mandy the fulcrum around which this tornado of violent desperation swirls.
It's somewhat anti-climactic when Americana eventually gathers its ensemble for a blood soaked standoff, but by that point we've grown to alternately like and despise its various characters that the shootout at least has relatable stakes, even if it is the most clichéd way to end a movie like this.
Americana is on UK/ROI VOD from September 22nd.
