Anywhere, USA

It is an work of art, mixing so many different components in one, in such a sublime way that the final result is this rich, innovating, beautiful and non-conventional movie. i'm certain it has intrigued people everywhere. it's astonishing and amazing. the director used the American ignorance, so present but never spoken of, in a critic way, but as well as in a spontaneous, subjective and comic way too, that really made the difference, turned the subject into a work of art. There are some intrinsic ideas that only people with a critical and astute look may understand, what discern the movie from the shallow-cheap-script ones (those we are tired of seeing and feel no commotion nor get intrigued). The cast helped very positively to create the several atmospheres that exists. The movie deserves the recognition for the singularity and extraordinariness.

Nothing against famous actors having an artistic pet project on the side, but this film was actually shot with a camera any of us could own and edited in a guy's garage. And as inspiring as this is, it wouldn't matter much if it weren't a good film, but it is. It shows a tremendous amount of heart and talent to work on a shoestring budget and not only get to Sundance but win an award. "Anywhere USA" is thought-provoking, politically incorrect, laugh-out-loud funny and there's an occasional shock or heartbreak, much like real life but with a better soundtrack. The little girl, Perla Haney-Jardine (previously Uma Thurman's daughter in "Kill Bill Vol 2" and most recently Diane Lane's in "Untraceable")is a charming natural actress, probably destined to be a star but don't hold that against her. Jeremiah Brennan who plays her uncle is an unknown, also a standout with emotions as translucent as his soulful blue eyes. These two move gracefully from comedy to tragedy and back again in a way big name stars could learn from. The 3 story lines come together with a subtle but satisfying ending. If you're bored with formulaic Hollywood movies, give this one a try.

Very good movie.

A really funny and harmless critique of America's way.

In my opinion it's a quite intelligent comedy because it has a lot of deep analyzing under the stupid jokes.

The second part is beautiful and so innocent..

The photography and the framing are excellent. As well as the settings that are very appropriate to exacerbate the kitsch that is America. I also have to mention the originality of the script and the way the body of the movie is divided.

And the music is so so good..

I liked a lot!

As someone who would rather have my teeth pulled out than watch a Will Ferrel or Seth Rogan comedy, "Anywhere, USA" was a refreshing find. It is an independent film, so going in I was expecting a certain level of over-the-top humor and drug references, which are there, but the characters are so real that it is believable. Coming from small town America myself, I could really appreciate the characters and the seemingly ridiculous scenarios. The first act, could be a movie in itself, in fact it makes the film. The second and third act fail to deliver as strongly, thus the rating of eight. The film is well shot and edited, the acting is spot-on for the most part.

To the reviewer who complained about this film being shot digitally... Bare in mind this is an independent film, so budget is a factor. If your eyes have not yet gotten used to seeing digital footage in films, then you're not watching many films. Furthermore, the media does not make the film, it is what the production is able to do with the media. Anyhow, I found the cinematography to be quite enjoyable.

All in all, a very good movie. This crew deserves many rewards and kudos for a "job well done". I laughed my ass off.

I saw this film in the London Film Festival. I was really looking forward to an intelligent satire but unfortunately Anywhere, USA just did not deliver. The film is in three segments, the first a tale of rednecks and suspected terrorism, the second a faux-naive whimsical story about a hippy-burnout and a kid losing her faith in the tooth-fairy, and the third a tale of a WASPy old guy deciding he really must get out and meet some black folks. The middle segment is quite sweet and has some good ideas. The first and last parts are utterly charmless with barely a funny moment between them.

As you get to the end of the film, you begin to realise that the three segments are supposed to be parodies of common types of Hollywood films: the dumb action movie (e.g. Die Hard), the whimsical indie movie (e.g. Little Miss Sunshine) and the story of wealthy middle-aged guys going off the rails (e.g. American Beauty). The structure of the whole thing was also reminiscent of Magnolia type many-strands-coming-together films. To me, though, this aspect of the film was really unsatisfying - it is not enough to excuse something obvious and charmless by saying "We were actually parodying something obvious and charmless" (For the record, I don't think the films just mentioned are obvious and charmless, but I get the sense the makers of this film did.)

More than this, however, was the contempt that the film seemed to show for its audience. At one point, the film deliberately shows an implausible scene, allowing the audience to think "oh well that was implausible" and then comments on the deliberate implausibility of the film. It is a cheap trick, and it is neither big nor clever.

Effective satire relies on originality, sharp wit and being scrupulously fair (rather than trying to score cheap points). On this score, as on every other, this film fails to deliver. I can stand bad films, but not bad films that are so self-satisfied with so little justification. If this is what passes for a prizewinner at Sundance then that festival needs to take a long hard look at itself.