There are countless movies that take place at Christmas or around Halloween, but as far as American holidays are concerned, Thanksgiving doesn’t have quite as many cinematic tributes to the traditions that fall on the fourth Thursday in November. Films like Planes, Trains & Automobiles or last year’s Thanksgiving are popular experiences, but anyone looking to add a new viewing to your rotation can head to Prime Video, Tubi, or The Roku Channel to enjoy the 1999 documentary American Movie. The movie itself, directed by Chris Smith, wasn’t ever intended to be an experience that would be watched every November, which makes its embrace of the holiday all that more rewarding.
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The movie follows filmmaker Mark Borchardt, who lives in rural Wisconsin, as he tries to bring his movie Northwestern to life. In order to do that, though, he realizes he needs to complete his short horror movie Coven, which he aims to sell to earn enough profit to then fund Northwestern. Thanks to the support of his family and his best friend Mike Schank, audiences witness Borchardt’s passion for film and persrverence to complete Coven, despite the limited access to resources required to fully realize his vision.
The timing of the film’s release means it unfolded at a time long before someone could ever go “viral” on the Internet, which means all of the personalities in American Movie are entirely authentic and organic as opposed to feeling performative. Everyone in the movie is a real Midwesterner, which also makes them incredibly endearing. With American Movie chronicling the months-long journey of completing Coven, viewers see how Borchardt and his cohorts celebrate Thanksgiving together.
The Thanksgiving sequence in the movie only lasts for seven minutes, which also marks one of the longest stretches of the movie where no one is directly working on making Coven. Instead, we get to see some of the film’s most lighthearted and endearing moments, from Mark helping his elderly uncle Bill (also Coven‘s executive producer) take a bath to Mike Schank arriving with a smile on his face because he won money on a lottery ticket (which he keeps from his friends so he doesn’t get asked to borrow money) to Mark and his friends consuming their Thanksgiving feast. Whether it be Mark proclaiming about Mike, “You look happier than hell, Jack,” or uncle Bill raving about his Sprite and peppermint Schnapps, “Got a good taste,” the events of the day deliver some of the most notable lines you’re bound to repeat. (Filmmaker Ti West paid tribute to the latter quote in his 2022 movie X, as Scott Mescudi’s character similarly confirmed, “Got a good taste,” to some lemonade he drank.)
In a movie full of memorable quotes and hilarious exchanges, the number of these moments that fall within this seven-minute stretch — as well as the scenes leading up to and following it — makes the holiday cement itself in the audience’s memory. Despite only a fraction of the movie taking place on Thanksgiving, the film as a whole does serve as a tribute to the power of friends, family, and community, something that Borchardt is clearly thankful for.
Part of the charm of American Movie is witnessing Borchardt do the best he can with what he’s got, which means enlisting his friends to write Coven‘s music or serve as extras, hiring local actors to star in the film (despite months passing between their scenes being filmed), asking his mom run a camera to film himself, or having his kids sleep over in an editing room as he tries to piece Coven together. By the end of American Movie, Borchardt is tremendously grateful to all of those who helped him realize his dream, clearly out of not just their love for him, but also for how entranced they became of his singular passion to make movies.
Sadly, Borchardt himself isn’t quite as thankful for American Movie, given that it captured him at a challenging time in his life. Not only was he battling with alcoholism at the time, fueling some of the more memorable scenes in the movie, but the overall tone of the movie can feel like it is less of a celebration of an artist pushing through obstacles and more of a mocking expose on someone operating outside the Hollywood system. Even though Borchardt might think the movie is making fun of him, more earnest audiences feel as though the movie is a celebration of his passion.
Audiences also have good reason to be thankful, given that the audience can now be easily streamed. American Movie earned a home video release, landing on VHS and DVD in the early 2000s, but it would take two decades to get an HD upgrade, which came with its Blu-ray debut in 2022. In that 20-year period, fans had to try to track down a copy on physical media if they wanted to enjoy the experience, as it would only sporadically become available on streaming services. Earlier this year, the movie earned yet another upgrade with its debut on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.
American Movie might unfold over a large chunk of time in Borchardt’s life, meaning there’s many seasonally appropriate opportunities to revisit the picture, but we’d argue there’s no better time than Thanksgiving.
American Movie is now streaming on Prime Video, Tubi, and The Roku Channel.
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