According
to media analysis, a manageable one-dollar tip will greatly increase the profitability
of most rides for Uber drives. Unfortunately, Cam has not been getting much in
the way of tips, but that is hardly surprising, given his lack of charm. Technically,
he works for the fictional “Hail,” but same difference. Anger and desperation
will drive him to make some crazy rash decisions in Derrick Borte’s American
Dreamer, which opens today in New York.
Cam
was once respectable, but that was before he was down-sized out of his IT job
and kicked to the curb by his ex-wife. He now lives hand-to-mouth as a
ride-share driver and hardly ever sees his son. Life is humiliating especially
when he is chauffeuring around Mazz, a regular client who sees the value in Cam’s
nondescript, unimpressive wheels for his drug-dealing business.
He
pays well, but Mazz clearly enjoys lording his power and money over Cam.
Eventually, the driver reaches his breaking point. Fed up with all the sleights
life offers him, Cam plans a spectacularly ill-advised caper. Somehow, it goes
even worse than we expect. That leaves him in a super-awkward position the next
time Mazz summons him.
Honestly,
Dreamer is a veritable one-film festival of stunningly bad decision-making
and general counter-productivity. Watching this film leads to one face-palm
after another. Granted, Cam is most likely wrestling with clinical depression,
but it is still hard to believe any mortal man can be so self-defeating and
reckless. Yet, when it comes to going off half-cocked, Mazz is nearly as bad.
This
could all still have the makings of a perversely entertaining one-darned-thing-after-another
noir, were it not for a shocking development that comes along at the midway
point and completely sucks the air out of the film. It is just impossible for
anything following it to come across as remotely fun.
Nevertheless,
Robbie Jones deserves all kinds of credit for his absolutely riveting
performance as Mazz. There is something about him that is almost demonic. Jim
Gaffigan convincingly slow burns against type as the sad sack Cam, vividly
expressing all his pain and humiliation. Yet, Jones still owns the show.
Although
the excesses and questionable motivations frequently pull us out of the film,
Borte certainly keeps the tension uncomfortably high. It is dark and moody—and ultimately
soulless. Regrettably, by over-indulging in heavy-handed social commentary, the
film winds up sacrificing credibility. Not recommended, American Dreamer opens
today (9/13) in New York, at Cinema Village.
