AN AMERICAN DREAM: THE EDUCATION OF WILLIAM BOWMAN (Ken Finkleman). 86 minutes. Opens Friday (June 2). See listing. Rating: N
Written and directed by Ken Finkleman in a mode I can only describe as wrongheaded Lindsay Anderson, An American Dream: The Education Of William Bowman wants to be a biting satire of contemporary American culture.
But Finklemans satire is toothless. It gently gums its target, hoping to be noticed and deemed adorable you know, like 80s-era Air Farce or perhaps The Newsroom, that shameless rip-off of The Larry Sanders Show that made Finkleman a Canadian media star back in the 90s.
Its smug and insufferable calculated jokes aimed at obvious targets, with one lazy idea piled on top of the last. This is the sort of movie that thinks scoring a gunfight with wacky banjo music will be hailed as original, or even daring.
No cliche goes unturned hypocritical Christians, hyperbolic media, drone strikes, two-faced politicians, you name it and a host of gifted performers (including Derek McGrath, Rick Roberts, Ron Lea, Natalie Lisinska and The Beavertons Emma Hunter) is utterly wasted.
Finklemans always been self-congratulatory, but with this one set up as the delirious fantasy of a heartland naif (Jake Croker) after hes laid out during a high school football game hes patting himself on the back so hard Im surprised he didnt break both arms.
