Made in U.S.A. (1987)

Two misfit best friends, Dar and Tuck, leave their dying coal mining town with only one goal in mind - to reach sunny California and hook up with some beach babes. On the road, they meet gun crazy outlaw Annie and she takes over.

Director:

Ken Friedman

Writers:

Zbigniew Kempinski (story), Nick Wechsler (story)

Stars:

Judith Baldwin, Lori Singer, Marji Martin

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Judith Baldwin	...	Dorie
Lori Singer	...	Annie
Marji Martin	...	Ma Frazier
Adrian Pasdar	...	Dar
Chris Penn	...	Tuck
Tiny Wells	...	Pa Frazier
Jacqueline Murphy	...	Cora
Frank Beddor	...	Bud
Marie Antoinette Bresadola	...	Waitress
Mark Carlton	...	Ford Salesman
Scott Casey	...	Redneck in Gas Station
Pete Concha	...	Elderly Indian
Lionel Croll	...	Garage Owner
Cindi Dietrich	...	Girl in Trans-Am
Anthony Duran	...	Lonny

Storyline

Two men from Pennsylvania give up hope in their small run down coal mining town, and head off in search of the beaches of California. The two steal cars as they travel across the USA and are joined by a wild young woman.

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Plot Keywords:

best friend | girl | native american | sex in a car | stealing a car | 

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Taglines:

They hit the road in search of thrills and excitement... They got more than they bargained for...

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 1987 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Made in USA

Filming Locations:

Acoma, New Mexico, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), Hemdale

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During production, director Ken Friedman and Hemdale's chairman John Daly suffered a major falling out over the way the film should be edited. Determined to have the film shown as he intended, Friedman showed the film uncut at Cannes in 1987. Daly threatened to have him arrested if he'd have shown his cut publically again. During the fall-out, New Line Cinema made an attempt to buy the film, but the deal fell apart. The Daly-approved cut was shelved for one year and a half, before finally dribbling out on VHS in November 1988. Friedman's cut of the film never surfaced.

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Soundtracks

Old Blue Car
Written by Peter Case, Marvin Etzioni, Victoria Williams
Performed by Peter Case
Courtesy of Geffen Records
by arrangement with Warner Special Products
Copyright 1986 Trumpet Blast/My Youth/Mumblety Peg/Bug Music

User Reviews

A made movie

I love this film every time I see it. I suspect too, it's been overlooked, and has a low profile existence in movie world. This unmissable film, has a style of it's own and at times, there are such beautiful moments. There's an underlying intention in the movie, crying out to be something more. Dar (Pasdar) and Tuck (Penn) are going mad in this little Pen smoke stack town. They are two wild and reckless guys, especially Dar, who has such a dangerous energy, Pasdar, such an awesome presence, giving such a mesmerizing performance by while Penn's pretty good too. Too, there's a deadly chemical pollutant in the air, Dioxide. They take off, headed for California, while hot wiring a few cars as transport. By chance, they meet a real wild one (Lori Singer) who joins them, where this lass is extra trouble, crazier than them. Later on, they pick up an Indian girl, and take her her back to the reservation. Another nice character touch. This 78 minute road movie, never dulls, and this road trip is every bit entertaining, I found, because of the all crazy stuff these very likable characters do. They even steal slices of pizza from laborers, in the early stage of this short running flick, that really does make it's point. It's one of the most enjoyable road movies I've seen, as one of the most potent. You find yourself pondering over what Penn and Pasdar's issues really are. Like I said, Pasdar's character is really intriguing. We really sympathize with our reckless duo, where Singer's performance can't go unnoticed, either. That sad music score is eerily engaging, as is the performances by our trio. Those surfer haircuts of the two, after running in a bit of trouble, on the reservation, are by far the most fu..ed up, I've ever seen, especially Penn's. Highly recommended film.